I love Facebook. I love the status updates and I love flipping through photos of babies and vacations and bathroom remodels. I love the adrenaline rush I get when a little red box appears at the top of the page telling me someone has interacted with me in some way. I love that there are people there who knew me when I was two and people who work with me today and people who I know mostly by association—damn, even a woman who owns two copies of my chapbook. Former students. Ex-boyfriends. Old classmates. I love seeing colleagues’ travel photos and I love knowing what’s coming up next on my favorite podcasts. I love finding pithy ways to describe the mundane things my husband and I do on Saturday afternoons.
I may love Facebook a little too much and a little too often. So I’m taking the month of November off.
What will I do with my time if I’m not able to fall into the easy world of top stories, recent stories, news feeds, and birthday reminders? I want to find out. And I want to take on another insane time-consuming project—National Novel Writing Month, affectionately called NaNoWriMo, in which thousands of people scramble to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. I’m not writing a novel. I don’t even have a writing project at hand. But I want desperately to return to a writing practice, so I’m gambling that 2,000 words a day will deliver me there. And maybe I’ll write a few blog entries. Take some long walks in the cooler weather. Put some veggies in the ground.
As for Facebook, I’m too chicken to disappear completely, to simply delete my account and get on with life like those who never signed up to begin with. I can’t imagine what my 25th high school reunion earlier in the month would have been like without Facebook, all those old familiar faces familiar again, some part of their decades-long story already filled in—marriages, children, spare time tendencies. No, I don’t want to lose all that.
And I don’t imagine I can just dabble in Facebook. It’s like the glass canister of M&Ms a co-worker has placed in the breakroom and keeps refilling, a little stainless steel measuring spoon by its side. I look at that canister and know it’s no good, that it’s colorful but dangerous, that I’ll feel worse if I open it. But open it I do. And then all afternoon I rise from my chair, unscrew the lid, dip the spoon in for another dose, close the lid, sit down at my desk, eat, and then repeat. I can’t say no to Facebook anymore than I can say no to the M&Ms.
Instead I’ll ask my husband to intervene, have him change my password, write it down and hide it away somewhere, and give it to me on December 1. I’ll remove the app from my iPhone. And I’ll move into November, whatever it brings.
Friends, I’ll miss you. I’ll miss your Halloween costume recaps, the photos of Thanksgiving spreads and family members. I’ll miss your news, large and trivial, the premature Christmas trees. I’ll fly to New York and spend the holiday in Connecticut and not share my bite-sized stories. I’ll see you in December.
4 comments:
Love this, love this...smooch, smooch. xs
Billy Joel sang, "... so many faces in and out of my life; some will last, some will just be now and then. Life is a series of 'hello's and 'goodbye's; I'm afraid it's time for 'goodbye' again.".
Facebook came along and changed all that.
We, too, have often lamented that there is no longer a natural progression of people coming in and out of our lives, no chance to remember anyone fondly and wonder what they are up to these days. Ah, the good old days.
However, in this new world, as we no longer lose track of our very first friends who held our hands when we were two, we stay connected with those we care about in a way just as we stay connected to global news. I would just as soon give up Facebook as I would give up my online subscription to the New York Times. As all the information I care about in the world is there, on Facebook all the people I care about are sharing their lives, information (sometimes trivial, sometimes very informative ) opinions (sometimes trivial, sometimes profound), etc., and of course common experiences.
I hope you achieve your goals in this month. Please know that I enjoy your travel pictures, your observations, article links and Free Minds updates. I'll be glad to see them return in December.
As for me, I couldn't do it. Our favorite road trip companions are currently in Memphis, a city perpetually on our to-see list, and I am looking forward to the next batch of pictures they will post tomorrow night. I do not miss the old days of waiting til they return to wade through hundreds of photographs over dinner. When they return we can eat and talk about their trip south,.... And plan our next trip together to go north into Canada.
While I wait for that dinner date, I will continue to pop in to Facebook a few times a day to see what's happening with everyone else. Makes me happy, keeps me in the loop, which is where I like to be.
Have a sweet, productive November
you're an inspiration, as always. I'm not ready for a FB fast just yet, but I can feel it simmering, almost ready. Have a great month.
2,000 wds/day is a high step. Can you settle for 1,000? Get Gaudi about it. That's my short-hand ref. to the Spanish architect who was clearly crazy compared with everyone else and not only envisioned the Sagrada Familia but convinced ppl to build it...and even after he's long dead they're still building it. Renting an office? I'm thinking it's pretty Gaudi of me. Getting off Facebook - very Gaudi of you! Get your Gaudi on! xo Robin
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