So I had embarked on an ambitious project to stay off of Facebook for a year. I wrote about it, I got addresses of all the people who wanted to stay in touch, I did a countdown. I was in it to win it and determined to see it through to the end. My reasons for doing this were varied, but in a nutshell FB just wasn't really doing anything for me but making me upset.
Skip ahead three months and things were going pretty well until my husband asked me about a picture of my friend Beth. She did a Rock Star workshop for adults and there on FB was a picture of my awesome friend, singing with a live band and looking like a true rock star! In that moment, I felt a rush of emotion realizing I missed this type of interaction with my friends. I had no idea what was going on in their lives. And just like that, my year long project was thrown to the winds.
Later that week at work I saw my friend Jessie at work. We had talked a lot about the project right before I started it and when she asked me why I ditched the project and I told her about Beth, Jessie's response was "I think it's great that you are aware enough of what's going on in your life to know what is serving you now, in this moment." That really struck a chord with me because I will admit to beating myself up a bit over not following through with my intention. But when Jessie said that all doubts vanished. And it got me to thinking.
Just because I have an intention to do something doesn't mean it's set in stone. If it is bringing me more anxiety than happiness then is it better to be a 'woman of my word' (which I don't take lightly) or to admit that in this moment, something is not working for me? I think there is strength of character in both following through with a commitment or intention and admitting that the path needs to change...it depends on the situation I guess. And that's the lesson I learned from this whole FB experiment.....which was not what I thought it was going to be! Instead of being able to say "Oh, I was so much more connected in a deeper way to the people who are in my life" while being all zen and wise (sarcasm!) I was smacked in the face with "Hey girl, try listening to yourself and be able to acknowledge that maybe this isn't what you need right now!" Huh. What a liberating way of looking at it. So thanks Jessie for putting a different spin on things and bringing more awareness to whether I am in the moment or not. And thanks Beth for having the stones to get up on stage and be your rock star self AND to post a picture while doing it. And to everyone else who was excited about this project, thanks for wanting to participate and thanks for (hopefully) understanding what happened and where this comes from. Maybe we can all take something away from this!
