Kickin' it old school

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You know that ebb and flow of life? The yin and yang of it? How one decade sugar is bad because of calories and the next it's good because it's natural? Or how decades ago putting babies to sleep on their tummies was thought to be soothing and now it's a hazard? Or how Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest was once a transforming way to connect and now people are deleting their accounts left and right because it takes up too much of their time or they're comparing themselves to others too much or they just want some more privacy? That. 

I've been thinking about that last one, about how much of my life I spend trying to document life instead of just living it. How I'm looking at my kids through a screen so that I can preserve their little faces and voices. I'm even thinking about why I take those pictures and videos: is it for them and for our family, or is it to show the world and get some likes on Facebook? And does the world really need pictures of my kids? And do my kids really want their faces strewn all over who knows where?

What would happen if I went a little old school, if I got off the grid a little? What would happen if I were more present--turned off the screens, quit looking at what other people were up to, remembered birthdays because I'd written them down instead of having a Facebook reminder, called or emailed people instead of relying on status updates for news, enjoyed a cute moment with my kids without having to capture it? Took a break from TV for a while?

I know I'm just in an ebb phase and that social media isn't only evil all the time. I'm not going to delete my Facebook account or quit blogging, and I'm not even on a screen all that often to begin with. BUT. I'm going to scale back. An article in World Magazine recently stated, "Living life online...can intrude on our private disciplines" and my heart nodded. Yes. Yes. I'm missing the things that make my heart alive: reading, writing, thinking, praying, letter-writing. And I always say I don't have time, but I do; I just need to create space for it.

So I'm going to watch fewer shows on Hulu and pick up some books in that stack that's been piling up by my bed. I probably won't post any more pictures of my kids on Facebook (for their sakes and mine...and maybe yours). I won't update my status on Facebook unless it's useful (like, can you please help me find a Lightning McQueen anything because my son is obsessed? That kind of thing). I'm making an effort to put down my phone more. Like in another room. I think it will make me a more present mom. I probably won't write about my kids as much on here either; some things are just for them and need to stay that way.

One thing I won't do for now, though, is quit blogging. I started it years ago to keep myself writing, and  it still serves that purpose and gives me a platform to do something I was created to do. I do want to work more on my writing here, making it tight and interesting and honest.