Breaking News: there is life without facebook!

Well I did it.  My experiment of giving up facebook for a week was successful.  I wish I could say it was completely easy and I didn't have any withdrawal but I'd be lying of course!  The hardest day for me was Thursday when I got an email that someone I hadn't been in contact with since college had friended me.  I REALLY wanted to log on to look at her pictures and ya know basically do the whole voyeur thing.  I did convince Tom to let me at least accept her friend request while he sat there to make sure I didn't look at anything beyond that.  But let me tell you - the minute my allotted time was up, I was on there looking at the "wall" catching up and checking out this old friends' photos. 

Turns out I didn't miss much...

Turns out I kinda like life without facebook...

I'm not saying I'm never going on it again or anything.  And I'm definitely not wanting to judge anyone or say it's "bad".  Lord knows I found lot's of other things on the computer to look at instead of facebook!  To get real honest about it though I think the dangerous part of facebook for me is that when I'm in a bad spot, it's easy for me to get on there and start comparing myself to everyone.  And the truth is that facebook is ,as one friend called it, "a 2nd life", meaning for most it's sort of a glossy, edited version of who you are.  I don't put all my crap and insecurities on facebook for my 150 odd "friends" to critique.  And most others don't either.  It's great for keeping track of people, communicating long distance, and yes the pictures of people I actually care about are really fun!  But, for now anyway - I'm liking the space opened up in me when I'm not on facebook.  Sorry Mark Zuckerburg.

In all seriousness though, I may have seen this very important video sooner if I would have been on facebook last week.....

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

And yeah, that video IS pretty hilarious and awesome right?:)

I'm going to go eat some chocolate now while I watch it a few more times...

Small Experiment...

As I've mentioned before I'm currently taking an online course based on the book "The Gifts of Imperfection" by Brene Brown.  So far the class has been pretty easy and not too invasive but today we were prompted to voluntarily take a week off from engaging in an activity that we may use to numb.  Crap.  It's one thing to talk about this stuff but quite another to be asked to actually do it. 
So I've decided to be fairly kind and gentle with myself and give up something that's not too terribly hard for me to give up:  Facebook.  Five days without looking at the *wall*.  Can I do it?  I think I can but I promise to be honest with my blog and let you know how it goes next week. 
And who knows?   Maybe next time I'll try giving up something harder like The Bachelor, sugar or (insert tiny gasp here) thrifting! 

But then again, maybe not....

Musick by Mr. Fish

I am curious to know how much more of ourselves we would really "hear" if we slowed down, stayed with ourselves, and numbed less.  It's an experiment I'm willing to try.

Taken from my class by Jen Lemen ~

This week we are going to examine resiliency and the way that turning down the volume on numbing can actually amplify our sense of personal power and resourcefulness. We live in a culture that offers us a hundred and one opportunities to numb our emotions, every minute of every day. What would happen if we actually stepped away from the things that help us zone out? What amazing resources would we uncover in ourselves as well as the people around us if we gave ourselves a chance to zoom in on what matters most?


So here's to waking up and listening to the music!  Dance on!!