Hello my friends…welcome to my blog. For those of you who have linked here from
Facebook, please don’t be confused. I
did NOT have to log into my FB account for this to post to your page. All of my posts automatically link to your
pages...so now that that’s cleared up, I would like to tell you all about the
first week of my sabbatical.
I have to say it’s been a little strange and has taken some
getting used to. Days seem a little
longer and at the end of the week, all those lost minutes have come together to form
an extra two hours to focus on life’s delicious simplicities. This week has helped me realize, life lived
without an audience looking is very different than living in the online world. There's a familiarity about it, experiencing
life again as it once was before Facebook.
Days move a little slower with less distractions.
The first two mornings were the hardest. I would wake up at my usual time, get ready for work and plop down on the couch to check out my emails and blog. Both mornings, by habit and without thinking or paying attention to what I was doing, I typed the www.facebook.com into my search bar and was surprised when the login page appeared. I suppose you might think this a little dramatic but one could compare it to an alcoholic standing outside the front door of a bar. Because I was adamant about sticking to this facebook diet and determined NOT to cheat myself out of this experience, I quickly left the page, moving on to my hotmail and blog. I have to admit I felt a little disconnected at times, wondering what my friends and relatives were up to that day. But this little experiment has brought forth some pretty great personal moments for me.
What has resulted from this week away from FB? Well let me tell you! On Monday morning, In the 20 minutes I would have normally been reading posts, I spent that time making my son warm waffles to wake up to. The remaining part of the week was filled with things like a phone call shared between my sister and I, so much nicer than our usual quick replies on our walls. A girlfriend and I got together for a wonderful evening of conversation and shared some yummy lemon ginger tea…something I probably would have never tried had I not went to her home to visit.
The first two mornings were the hardest. I would wake up at my usual time, get ready for work and plop down on the couch to check out my emails and blog. Both mornings, by habit and without thinking or paying attention to what I was doing, I typed the www.facebook.com into my search bar and was surprised when the login page appeared. I suppose you might think this a little dramatic but one could compare it to an alcoholic standing outside the front door of a bar. Because I was adamant about sticking to this facebook diet and determined NOT to cheat myself out of this experience, I quickly left the page, moving on to my hotmail and blog. I have to admit I felt a little disconnected at times, wondering what my friends and relatives were up to that day. But this little experiment has brought forth some pretty great personal moments for me.
What has resulted from this week away from FB? Well let me tell you! On Monday morning, In the 20 minutes I would have normally been reading posts, I spent that time making my son warm waffles to wake up to. The remaining part of the week was filled with things like a phone call shared between my sister and I, so much nicer than our usual quick replies on our walls. A girlfriend and I got together for a wonderful evening of conversation and shared some yummy lemon ginger tea…something I probably would have never tried had I not went to her home to visit.
Friends and family emailed and called, after
reading my blog post, letting me know that what I had written had rang true
with them and had also been feeling and needing in their lives at this moment. My daughter and I
took our dog Gracie for a long walk and talked about all the great things that
were going on in our lives. I've been walking more with friends and during lunch
hours, enjoying the beauty of the changing fall
leaves and short cheerful conversations with those I meet. I
discovered a new philosopher named Abraham Hicks, whom speaks to my soul,
quenching the thirst of my very being. Listening to her each night has
complimented and enriched this experience.
Oh how I’ve enjoyed this week and how it’s made my life
and those I’ve shared time with a little sweeter. For
some people, this is not the kind of thing they are looking for and that's ok! Each and every
one of us are all different, traveling our own paths. But for me, this week of living my life
without anyone looking and without looking at the lives of others, has been in one simple word ‘therapeutic’.
Good bye for now my lovelies.
Stay True, Joella
