Life without Facebook

It's been little over a year since I've deleted my Facebook account. There are many reasons why I left the website. Mainly to focus more on my creativity and craft. But also to live in a more healthy environment. Although some may not agree with my choice, it is important to understand this was my decision and not in any means to degrade or attack Facebook users. 

I am all for people promoting themselves and their businesses, more power to them. But at the end Facebook was not for me. Before leaving the social network, I researched several articles and statistics. I was bothered by what I was seeing in public. Couples staring endlessly into their devices and not interacting with one and another. Is that the society I wanted to live in, no I told myself.

In order to detach myself from the online social network, I slowly removed myself from the website. In the beginning of January, I limited myself to accessing the website from multiple times a week to once a week. Yes it was difficult not knowing what was going on out there. Then the following month I pushed myself to once every 2 weeks. 

By now I was accustomed to not looking at the website at all. So on Ash Wednesday, I deleted my account. Keep note that Facebook does not instantly delete your account, they freeze it for 15 days in case you change your mind.

I will admit, the first couple of days I was sadden because I felt as though I was saying good bye to memories. But who wants to live online. Also felt as though I lost contact with several friends and began distancing myself not by choice but because we no longer had that instant access. 

As I contemplated that decision, I remembered what a famous writer once said, "I feel like I'm part of a generation of people who are stuck in the past and are really self-absorbed. I mean, we're actually taking pictures of ourselves and posting them on Facebook, and keeping in touch with people that should have been out of our lives 15 years ago," Diablo Cody.

Perhaps we are not meant to stay in contact with people who are passing by. We are holding onto them longer than we should and only delaying the process. Only way to reminisce the past is to let go of the present.

You may ask yourself, why eliminate the account. After a couple of weeks, I found myself having a more personal conversation with friends who stayed in touch. It was more than just a hello or awesome posted on your wall, instead the talks were deeper. Real conversations created without having the plot ruined from that mornings wall posting.

Also, no longer had to worry about being tagged, advertised, or reading rumors. In the past, I sometimes wondered why public figures life tended to be disruptive. Perhaps we shouldn't be exposing too much to the world and keep those little things like birthdays or celebrations more intimate and close to the heart. It looses its value when its no longer just for you. It is what makes us unique, our life.