What leaving Facebook showed me about myself

This will probably end up being a listicle (list/article)......because energy.....


What leaving Facebook for a little under 2 weeks showed me about myself:

1. I was absolutely addicted to logging in and interacting with the toxicity on FB. I aggravated anxiety, triggered myself, and could not find the strength to turn away most days. I was annoyed with people and their thoughts, their opinions, their pity parties, their expression, and just them. But I could not find the strength to turn away most days.

2. I tricked myself into believing that I could manage the addiction (because that's what addiction looks like). I unfollowed people, muted people, unfriended people, blocked people, tried to stay on my own timeline, and tried to only go to certain people's pages. INSTEAD OF LOGGING OUT AND OFF so I am admitting to myself and to other people that my life became unmanageable.

3. I only claimed I wanted to be successful. I didn't do the things I knew I needed to do to be successful. I hope that this doesn't sound like me beating myself up. Because I'm not. I'm just honest with myself about how I know I can't spend 40 hours per week every week on Facebook while claiming that I want to elevate my brand and launch and maintain a business that does not require that I sit on FB for 40 hours per week every week. "You can fool some of the people most of the time....."

4. I was overly concerned about maintaining surface connections with people and believed that they more powerful than real time connections with people. There's nothing cute about having regular interactions with people online and feeling weird being around them when you finally see them in public. What's even less attractive is maintaining a facade so that it looks like we really like each other when we don't fool with each other in real life. THAT IS SO UGLY. And that's what I was doing.

5. That I am still creative. I am still full of wonderful ideas. I am still intelligent, capable, ambitious, driven, determined, helpful, energetic, curious, full of wonder, enthusiastic, bubbly, and all of the other things I love about myself when I'm not being drained by social media. What social media WON'T DO is enslave me to the B.S. again. I won't allow it.

I've taken breaks from social media before. This one was a real break. It broke the stronghold it had on me. I know from posting today that the pull is still real. But what I won't do is give in to it everyday. So I'll manage it one day at a time, from moment to moment and use the tool instead of letting the tool use me.



Learn.
Nurture.
Grow.

Peace

Comments

  1. Boom Boom...I can definitely relate as I have removed myself a long time now and controls how much time I spend there which is very little. And yes, there is so much you will end up doing that can be more fulfilling. Looking forward to see more evolution of the Ellen Gee

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  2. This is exactly why I never signed up on FB (or other social media). All this was kinda predictable I think after being introduced to social media many years ago and analyzing its effects on me back then. I'm hoping more people will join the movement to unplug if even periodically.

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  3. Well said LNG. I do miss your bubbly personality and not to mention you're super funny. I've been off of Facebook for over a year and I can relate to everything you posted. I do not miss it one bit. To me it's a huge distraction that I spent a lot of time and energy on.

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  4. Everytime I read this perspective I pull something new and insightful. This part that you wrote "There's nothing cute about having regular interactions with people online and feeling weird being around them when you finally see them in public. What's even less attractive is maintaining a facade so that it looks like we really like each other when we don't fool with each other in real life. THAT IS SO UGLY...." had me constantly checking and curbing my interaction on social media because I experienced that and realized I'm not being my authentic self and by letting others operate that same way, I was cosigning with the façade, not allowing them to be their authentic selves. Life is too short for me to be pulled into surface interaction and very few real physical relationships.

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