I Choose the Red Pill

I can't believe I actually did it. Tonight I said good-bye to Facebook. I did it with serious trepidation. I was actually nervous as I hit the button to post my final status update.  I thought, this is it. No more posting funny quips (the two times a year I actually come up with something worth posting, and later wondering if it was actually worth sharing anyway), no more reading up on all those distant friends (mostly people that I haven't seen in so long that I'm not close with anymore...so why do they want me to know what they had for lunch, and more importantly why do I care?), no more keeping up with my good friends (wait, shouldn't I just call them or get together anyway?).  Huh...so why was I so nervous about it?

It's such a THING. It's what everyone does. It's how people know what's going on. It's how friends catch up. It's something that I have spent so much time doing in the past. And lately it's something that has caused me anxiety because I haven't been doing it. What am I missing?  What are people assuming I know but I don't because they posted it on Facebook but I missed it?  

So as part of my new, more minimalist lifestyle, tonight I said good-bye to Facebook. If I feel the need to catch up with friends, I will look to my phone and think, who haven't I talked to lately?  I will look to my email and ask, who haven't I caught up with in a while?  I will go to the source. And I will spend that bit of energy doing something that is more true to my one goal for 2012. Simplify.  Make my time and energy count. 

So happy new year everyone - here's to 2012!