Through Blog-Colored Glasses: My Social Media Sabbatical

As you may, or may not have noticed, I went on a Sabbatical for the month of July. A media blackout of sorts. It wasn’t a full scale, turn away from any kind of screen like a vampire in the sunlight blackout. I still read the news, and went online for work and other purposes – I’m not irresponsible. It was a Social Media blackout that consisted of not writing any new blog posts, or playing around on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Pinterest for a month.

I talked about my reasons for “going dark” in this post.

How did it go?

I’ve been thinking about that for a week now, and I figure it is time to give my assessment. I’m sure that some of you are expecting me to come back and say that it was an amazing, wonderful, enlightening experience. It wasn’t. Some of you might think it was horrible, difficult and lonely. It wasn’t that, either. It was a mixed bag, so to speak.

My explanation will be a mixed bag as well…

• I was terribly disappointed that I missed 30 or 40 opportunities to find out which Disney Princess I am. (In my gut I’m guessing Giselle.)

• It was not as hard as I thought it was going to be. Sure, the first day was tough, and the second day I had almost uncontrollable urges to log into Facebook and launch some incendiary political comments, just to know I could still make a ripple. But I stood strong in the face of temptation.

As the month went on, it got easier. Compared with my daily, unrequited, cravings for Mountain Dew, this was easy-peasy. It is nice to know that, should the time come, walking away from Facebook is do-able.

• I felt unburdened by having a break from reading (and writing) about apostasy, excommunications, and all the serious things that consumed the month of June. While that was, and still is, important, it can become consuming.

• I came back to countless requests to play Pet Rescue Saga, Pepper Panic Saga, Bingo Blingo, and of course, Jelly Splash among countless others. I then had to go through each one of those requests and turn them off. I don’t do Facebook games. Period.  (Other than trying to make people spew drinks out of their noses.)

• When with my family, I found myself not only checking my phone much less, but there were times when I didn’t even bring it with me. I know! Crazy! (Thankfully, my EC had one in case of tornados or urgent political surveys.)

• I did find some time to change up my blog format to a “responsive” theme, which is a fancy way of saying that now it will look better, and be easier to read on your tablet or phone.

• I did miss interacting with my Facebook friends – all 2800 of them. Sure, I enjoyed reading lots of books, and watching a lot of movies, but I did miss the banter and discussion on Facebook. There are a lot of people who would groan at that, but here is a thought: Reading is wonderful, good for my brain, and I love it, but it is not interactive on a human scale. I can immerse myself in a book, and the rest of the world disappears. At least when I am on Social Media, I am interacting with living, breathing people who might be using false identities.

(FYI: Books read: The Clifton Chronicles 1-4, (James Archer),  Lone Survivor (Marcus Luttrell), and Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less (Greg McKeown).  Best movie was probably the new monkey movie.

• July was chock full o’ family time. We did some vacationing, and really enjoyed each other. I have been blessed with a great EC and some most excellent FOMLs.  I spent a LOT of time with my EC, which I never get tired of. What I hadn’t thought out was that when we were home, my kids would be just as busy with their friends and activities as always, so I doubt they noticed my reduction in screen time much at all.

• Sunday nights were just not the same. For those uninitiated among you, every Sunday evening at 9:00pm, Salt Lake time, I hold a little event on my Facebook wall called “Sunday Night Check-In.” (SNCI for shot.) I ask the following question:

“What is the SINGLE best thing that happened to you TODAY.”

People from all over the world chime in with their Sabbath experiences. Some are simple, some are amazing. Sometimes hundreds of church members, and a few non-members, share testimonies and stories of faith. I love it. I missed it. It is good for my soul, and is a great way to end my Sunday worship. (Feel free to join in every Sunday.)

 

• Here is the one thing that requires the most explanation:

The month off made it very clear that blogging is good for me.

You have all heard the expression “looking at the world through rose-colored glasses.”  Right? If not, it is defined as “An optimistic perception of something; a positive opinion; seeing something in a positive way, often thinking of it as better than it actually is.. (link)

The connection is that over the years I have come to look at the world with Blog-Colored Glasses. As I move through my day-to-day life, I hold my experiences up and check to see if there is any blog material in them. As you know, about half of the stuff I write is quite serious and religious in nature, and often those ideas come from just being observant.

For example: If I go outside to find out that someone has dumped over our garbage can, I grumble, then I think to myself, “What is the gospel application of this?” Sometimes, I actually find one. And sometimes, it becomes a post.

This is not to say that every waking minute I am focusing on blog material. But I have found that I spend a lot of time looking at my experiences, and at the world, with an effort to learn something that I can share.

Some people, including President Eyring, have found success in keeping what they call a “Gratitude Journal.” They basically look at the world with Gratitude-colored glasses, and find something to write down everyday. (Link to Elder Eying’s talk here.)

Blogging serves that purpose for me. Whether anyone reads it or not, it is good for my soul, and keeps my thought directed upward, at bigger things.

 To make a long story short (Too late!) I missed blogging more than Facebook, but I missed interacting with my friends and SNCI on Facebook.  My EC feels the same way. She missed my blog posts, but enjoyed my being unplugged. Did it change my life? Nope. But one thing for sure, I know that next July I am doing the exact same thing.

PS: Special thanks to those of you who contributed guest posts to fill the void, and also those who stepped in and moderated SNCI while I was gone.