Good Morning to anyone bored enough with their own life that they felt the desire to bore themselves further with mine.
Cheers to you, I'm enjoying the first too-hot-for-my-mouth sips of my first cup of coffee today. I suppose it's sort of an odd day for me. I went to bed around 3am last night and woke up at around 5:45am... the only thing remarkable about this is that I couldn't go back to sleep.
Lately I've been feeling convicted to stay away from social media... I've been feeling poorly about the lack of things I accomplish for myself (personal goals, I mean). I'm disappointed in my lack of drive to learn and achieve for my personal enjoyment. I have recently given my daughter a cell phone and watching her and the way her friends interact (or rather, don't) with each other, I have been wondering about the obvious. We all know technology has come so far but the access to social media (and the way social media allows us to interact with one another) is stunting the growth of our kids emotionally, intellectually, and socially. Anyway, these observations have been heavy on my mind lately...
A few days ago I decided that I would soak in all the social media I could for a few days and then cut ties slowly... the fact that I even refer to it like this solidifies for me that it's an addiction. I started by removing the Facebook icon from my home screen. In doing this, I would be less likely to check it constantly because I wouldn't be able to see the notifications on the icon. After just one day of this, I was convinced I was doing the right thing. I found myself doing more around my house, partaking in new activities... I was suddenly having all kinds of ideas about how I could spend my free time.
So when I woke up in the middle of the night last night, I decided to check the Facebooks and there was a notification from my boyfriend, who is rarely on social media. He tagged me in a video and said that my daughter and I should watch it together. It was a man talking about how social media and technology has come to a point where it has created addictions in the millennial generation. He talked about the things that I've been feeling guilty about for a few weeks now. It was saddening to me. I felt very heavy watching it. And I suppose that's why I couldn't go back to sleep. It moved me. So I decided to get up and do the things that I might not have otherwise accomplished today.
I got out of bed at 6:00 a.m. and so far today I have:
- booked a hotel room for the first real vacation I've taken in 12 years.
- gone to the MVD to take care of small license thing
- gone to the grocery store
-cleaned up my kitchen (again after I cleaned it yesterday because my daughter is having a sleepover so of course the kitchen is a wreck. - written a journal entry
- written this
- taken my dog on a walk
- read the news
Still on my to-do list:
- squats
- shower
- visit the boyfriend before work
- work
- finish reading a book I'm almost done with
- work on my novel
I think that today so far has been productive. I feel much more positive today than I did a few days ago. I think a lot of that is from putting my phone down and experiencing the world around me.
I want to make other moves too like stop taking my phone with me everywhere I go in my house. I might make house rules for me and the kiddo like: once you're home, your phone sits on the kitchen counter and doesn't leave. The only reason you're allowed to go to it is if you get a text message/phone call. I think maybe I'll allow us both some time for social media but I want the dependence on it to go away.
I also talked to my daughter about us spending an hour 3x a week playing volleyball together. I want her to be proud of some accomplishments that she makes. That is missing from young kids lives. ALL of her friends, ALL of them, I don't know one of them that does an extracurricular activity. Partially I think that is due to the cost of those activities.... that's why I don't have my daughter in one... But at any rate. I want that to stop.
I really would like to homeschool my kid but I don't know... Perhaps I could during junior high? She would think I was crazy. haha It's definitely tempting.
Anyway, I'm off. I am going to see if her and her friend want to go to the park and play volleyball for an hour before I get ready.
Peace and Love.