Off the Grid.

 Back in July, I decided to go "off the grid". No, I didn't plant the entire back yard in fruits and veggies and convert the house into solar. I got off of social media. That's right--- its the year 2014 and not only did I get off of Facebook, but I even deleted my coveted Instagram account.

Why, oh why, would I do such a thing??

For a few reasons.

1. I found myself wasting a lot of time on social media. I would be browsing Facebook and get lost and before I knew it, I had been looking for two hours.

2. I never felt good about the above afterwards- I found myself down- in a very slight level of depression because I found myself comparing my life to the highlight reels of others- it made me disinterested in my life at times, thinking that other people had better lives than me. I became ungrateful and to an extent, jealous.

3. I learned the ins and outs of some peoples lives in ways that I didn't ever want to know. Some things are just better when you don't know all of the details.

4. I developed a negative opinion about some people based on some of the nonsense they posted.

5. I found myself wasting time on peoples pages that I don't really care about. I could run across some of my "Facebook friends" in Target and I would immediately turn the other way and hope they didn't see me.

Now, this post is in no way, shape or form a bashing of social media. Social media is an amazing tool to keep up with friends and loved ones, promote a business or blog, and keep up with local events and activities.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with social media- this is just a blatantly honest post about my feelings (subject to change at any time) toward social media.

Of course, there are plenty of things that I miss about it-- I don't get to keep up with some of the people that I actually did want to keep up with. I miss alot of fun pictures and videos of my nephews. People have died, divorced, gotten married and had babies and I have had no way of knowing.

But, on the bright side, I have been forced to actually call or text certain friends (which is a way more intimate way of keeping up) instead of dropping them a line on Facebook or liking an Instagram photo. It has forced me to instill some of the old laws of communication like meeting up for a meal.

Plus, I have successfully ridded myself of a significant amount of drama and gossip.

I can't say that I will stay off of social media forever- in fact, I am sure I will be back on at some point. However, this time "off the grid" has been refreshing.

Even if for a 30 day challenge, I think it could be beneficial to anyone to try this for themselves.