Within a few days of saying peace, I had to get on to check an address for birthday party because the invite came via Facebook (and there's really nothing wrong with that either because let's be honest, it's free and easy and people always be checking their Facebook feeds, haha). Then I had to get on because someone needed a picture that I had posted a while back and I didn't have it on my phone but guess where I could find it? Yep, that's right... my mobile uploads to Facebook. That actually happened a bunch of times. Also, my brother got a last minute fight and the only way we could watch it was, you guessed it, via Facebook of course. (Side note, I don't watch his fights live. I pray while he fights and watch after, but I did watch after because he won, first round KO, woot woot!) There was also the occasional text that said, "hey did you check your messages because I sent you a message." Yep, so at that point, I started thinking to myself, "what if someone that doesn't have my number messages me and it's important?" I then decided I should just start checking my messages daily (because just in case, right?).
The crazy thing is taking a "Facebook break" actually became more of a pain than the break I was seeking. I left for all of the normal reasons like being sick of all of the politics, the ridiculous videos, the horribly sad news and the time wasting articles that make every parent feel like a failure. Not to mention all of the suggested ads that I literally can't stand!
The truth is, I did need a break from all of the unnecessary stuff that fills my news feed... all of it. I think too I've realized during my "sort of" time away that my biggest problem with social media is the fact that we can't all just agree to disagree on topics that are simply opinions. It makes me crazy.
We all have passions and convictions and I'm completely for that because trust me, I have my own (and you may not like them), but I'm not over here forcing them down your throat or trying to convince you to see it my way. I'm also not calling you terrible names if you decide not to agree with me or wishing you a horrible fate because we don't agree. There are so many hot topics out there and while speaking our minds is not a bad thing, hate is not okay neither is shaming and unfortunately disagreeing on these hot topics often goes down that road.
I will be the first one to admit, I love a good debate. In college, I LOVED Debate class and pretty much everyone in my Debate class hated me because I was so awesome at it. At the end of any good debate though, I could shake that person's hand and say good job because while we might have been getting heated on our topic, at the end of the day I always knew that person mattered way more than their opinion on farm fresh eggs vs grocery store eggs. (No, that was never actually one of my debates. Our topics were always so much more intense and touchy and 14 years ago, no one debated that, but I felt the need inject something light hearted here.)
If you're still reading this I just want to challenge you to think long and hard about what you are passionate about and how you choose to share your passions, but I also want you to think about the people in your lives or on your social media pages. Decide if shoving your opinions down some one's "Facebook feed throat" is going to make them side with you on any topic anyway. Love is the answer to sharing your heart and sometimes being able to agree to disagree is the only way to keep loving. Sometimes taking it a step further and NOT posting on Facebook but having an actual conversation is the way to go too. My mom and I sometimes disagree on some pretty big hot-button issues, but I freaking love my mom. Sometimes we have have LONG drawn out conversations where we state our cases and stick to our guns but ultimately have to agree to disagree because that's how relationships work. You won't always agree on everything but people are way more important than opinions (even the ones you're really really passionate about).
It's just become really hard for me to accept that we pretty much live in a world where you're considered an evil person if you don't agree with the masses. I'm all over here on team, "You Do You."
One of the biggest examples of this right now in my life is the topic of homeschooling. Yes, we homeschool and we have our reasons, but I'm not anti "whatever school anyone else chooses is best for their family." Remember, I'm on team, "You Do You," because I'm sure you have a lot of good reasons why you choose what you choose but I'm also on team, "Stop Judging Everyone That Doesn't Do What You Do." I'm also on team, "Stop Hiding Behind Your Facebook To Shame People Into Siding With Your Views On Everything In Life."
Okay rant over but on a less serious note, I did get a lot done while I was on a "sort of" break from Facebook. I read 6 books. All of them pretty sizable too! I found the bottom of the laundry pile and for 3 sweet hours there was literally zero laundry in any hamper, on any bathroom floor, behind any bedroom door or hiding in the trunk of my minivan! I also decided that it might be time to start writing again so I edited a blog post that I wrote at the end of last year (that I haven't been ready to share), logged into my old blogger account and got the blog itch all over again.
So here I am. Back on Facebook and back to blogging.
Cheers to social media, Y'all, without it I couldn't share this blog post and a big cheers to agreeing to disagreeing, because in the end... Love really does win.
