“COME AWAY WITH ME for a while. The world, with its nonstop demands, can be put on hold. Most people put Me on hold, rationalizing that someday they will find time to focus on Me. But the longer people push Me into the background of their lives, the harder it is for them to find Me.
You live among people who glorify busyness; they have made time a tyrant that controls their lives. Even those who know Me as Savior tend to march to the tempo of the world. They have bought into the illusion that more is always better: more meetings, more programs, more activity.”
Sarah Young in “Jesus Calling”
After spending Lent somewhat disconnected from the world, now I feel a little lost. After being off Facebook, Instagram, negative media and political newsfeeds for fifty days, I’m afraid to turn them on again. At first, I must confess that I was experiencing FOMO. I told my daughter to keep me informed of anything important that was announced on Facebook. But after a while, I stopped asking, and I actually felt liberated. Now, I feel like I have returned from a long journey to the mountains where there was no internet nor media, and I am trying to reconnect with what happened while I was gone.
The first day I entered the world of Facebook, I had so many notifications that I turned it off immediately. I just could not deal with it. I felt bombarded and I just did not feel ready to rekindle my relationship with social media just yet. I realized during Lent that spending time scrolling through my newsfeed leaves me empty. It was just a way to keep busy doing meaningless activities. I excused myself by saying that I get so busy during tax season that at the end of the day, I can give myself a break. But I have come to realize that kind of meaningless busy ends up making me feel more overwhelmed and tired, than when I’m busy doing something productive.
I know that I cannot shut down Facebook completely because otherwise I get completely disconnected from the rest of the world which is also not a good thing. We are meant to live in community, not like hermits. Nowadays, everyone announces their family news through Facebook, especially during this pandemic when we could not see each other in person. New babies are introduced through Facebook or Instagram. Pregnancies and engagements are announced in social media. We attend weddings by enjoying the pictures that get posted, and it’s also a great way to remind us of birthdays.
When we went to the Holy Land, I tried to post my blog and photos during the trip because I knew a lot of people had asked me to do so. They had not been able to go on the trip physically but I took them with me spiritually. I even took their prayer requests with me to place on the Western Wall. But I promised myself that was all I would do in social media. After all, we were on pilgrimage so I did not want to get distracted with what was happening on the outer world. Honestly, there was hardly any time for distractions. I barely had time to write on my blog and post the photos. But a week after we returned, while trying to catch up with Facebook, I found out that a cousin had passed away. Sadly, even deaths get now announced through social media. We don’t call nor text each other anymore for these announcements. I did get a few texts from close friends and family during Lent because they knew that I was off social media. My cousin reached out to me directly to let me know that her daughter had gotten engaged; a friend sent me photos from her son’s wedding; my sister-in-law messaged me to share with me the good news that my nephew had received an important award. I really appreciated this direct contact but I do understand that it is so much easier to announce it to hundreds at once than to have to call or text one hundred different people. However, we have definitely lost that personal touch.
Now, as I try to find my balance and push meaningless busy activities out of my life, I am enjoying a much slower pace. Today, I am just sitting by the pool, enjoying a good fiction book, and writing this blog post as inspiration hits me, sometimes simply by a phrase on the book. I have reached out to a few persons, but not through social media. I talked to my friends in Madrid through WhatsApp. I messaged my cousin in Orense. I talked to my mom on the phone. I texted with my daughter. And I have not so much as checked Facebook not even once. Last night I did, but only for a little while. I am finding a balance between meaningless busy and productive busy. I do plenty of productive busy during the day, so I can treat myself for a bit of meaningless busy, but when it takes over all my free time, then it’s time to stop and take inventory of my life. Do I want to spend the rest of my life wasting my time? Or should I ask God what does He want me to do with the rest of my life? I am certain that He has something more productive in mind for me. And it doesn’t need to take away all my free time.
Copyright © 2021 Christy Romero. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment