Day 5

Yesterday wasn't so bad-- I filled the Facebook void by spending more time on Buzzfeed and Instagram.  Not the most "mindful" of activities, but I definitely was able to avoid the angry posts and inflammatory comments which scared me away from Faceobok to begin with.  In the moment I didn't really notice a change my mood, but looking back on it, I can definitely see that I was able to scroll through Buzzfeed or Instagram without getting upset about peoples' posts or comments.  I was more even-tempered and able to avoid the highs and lows of emotional entanglement in social media. 

One of my biggest worries for this Facebook cleanse is that people who did not get the message about my exodus would discover my professional account and try to "friend" me on that account.  I decided that if this occurs, I will simply refuse their friend request.  I even changed my Facebook name on that account with the hope that I may be harder to find.  Still, last night, I received a message from a resident of our dorm building, sent to that Facebook account.  Since I don't check that account unless I get a notification, and the notifications are sent to my work email, I did not see the message until this morning when I arrived at work.

The resident, I guess after realizing that I did not get the message, had knocked on the door to my apartment last night to tell me in person the same thing that he had sent in the message.  What really struck me was the idea that he seemed to think that I was sitting online, ready to respond at a moment's notice to anything that popped up.  We are so reliant on our phones and social media, that we just expect instantaneous responses.  This resident couldn't walk the few feet from his location to my apartment to deliver the message in person-- it was only after waiting a few minutes and not getting a response right away that he finally came to speak to me.

The truth is, I'm a little upset at the idea that all people are always connected to their devices all the time, and are sitting around with nothing better to do than to respond to other peoples' comments or messages.  This is definitely not the way I want to live my life-- it seems a bit disrespectful of my time and space to just assume that I am always available and always responsive.  This cleanse is helping me to realize that Facebook can prevent us from setting the boundaries we need to engage in self-care and to regroup so that we are 100% fresh and renewed for the next day.