I mentioned that I was playing with the idea of giving up social media like Twitter and Facebook for six months. I could not believe the emails that I received. People that said they too wanted to try it, or had already made the leap. Women who said they felt disconnected from their immediate families or their spouses. Men who said that they felt that they had no relationship with their kids except for on Facebook. Others who said that they were totally heartbroken by dramas that played out on the internet. Many said that they had developed "fake" friends and tiptoed around family members. And many, many who said that they felt so compelled to start their day by checking everyone's status that they had lost themselves, and needed to disconnect to try to figure out their lives.
It blew me away. We all seem to have a love/hate relationship with the technology in our life, and the relationships that we have through it.
After dealing with a few editors, I was trying to look at my Facebook more as a part of my possible writing career, and indeed, many would not have found this blog except through sharing it on a Facebook page. But it is still the random postings of someone's daily news, of how they are doing with life that keeps me most interested.
A few months ago a woman that was on my FB disappeared for a few months. I hope she doesn't mind me sharing the story here. She eventually sent me a message saying that she had been dealing with some issues, and all my "happiness" on Facebook was just too much for her to handle. I had others admit to me that they had taken me off their pages because I had kids and they didn't, and all my postings about my kids were too much. And a few said that I seemed to have forgotten where I was from and they were sick of all my posts about Fort McMurray. I am happy to say that they woman is now back on my page, and I love her contributions.
Do I have to defend myself? No, but I will. After being married for almost 20 years, and dealing with kids from all ages now, medical problems, accidents, miscarriages, depression and just life in general, I don't think I have ever said that our lives are perfect. But do I try to focus on the positives? Yes, because otherwise life would just be depressing, and I don't want to go through life feeling overwhelmed all the time. Do I love my kids, and Fort McMurray? Damn straight, but I also try to share what drives me crazy about them all at the same time.
For now, FB is my outlet, it's where I go to feel connected, where I see how everyone is doing, and if there is any news around town, across the province, around our country and from my friends around the world.
So I guess we all have our love/hate relationships, and we all need to figure out what makes us the happiest. Again, I find myself saying thank you....when I share and you respond we all feel a little less alone with our issues.
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