I set out 10 days ago to write a blog a day for 30 days. This only seemed possible, because I had three different blogs going. This one, one on genealogy (familyinatree.wordpress.com), and another reviewing old movies (youmayclap.wordpress.com). I've missed the past two nights. At first I felt guilty about that. I joined a blogging event, I set a goal, and I was going to complete it gosh darn it. I'd written for seven nights in a row, only to fail the task at hand after a week.
I no longer feel guilty about that, and this is why...
On Thursday night I had friends over for games, and spent a couple of hours afterwards snuggling and watching a show with my boyfriend. By the time I had time to write a blog it was midnight, and that's bedtime. The thought of firing up my computer, coming up with something to say, typing it up, and posting in enough time to get a good night's sleep seemed unlikely. Besides, whatever I'd have typed up at that point would've seemed thrown together, and completely unfair to you, my followers and me, myself.
On Friday night I drove an hour to have dinner and play board games with more friends, and by the time I got home it was well-past sleep time for a 7:30 a.m. crew call at work the next morning. There would be no blog tonight either.
Excuses, you say? Maybe. Hear me out, though.
How much time do we all spend everyday on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, blogs, etc. etc. and so forth so forth? How many of us have felt overwhelmed, fed up, or somewhat removed from this type of communication? Odds are almost all of us have thought about giving it up, or even managed to temporarily stay off of our most addictive site. Truth is, we probably can't, nor should we, completely give it up. Personally, I think of the people I would lose touch with if I called Facebook quits, and I'm not sure that the loss would be worth the gain. After all, it is a useful tool for talking to people who are out of state, country, or work opposite schedules from us. Ten years ago we would've just lost touch. Now, that's only an option if no one puts forth any effort at all. It's also a great networking tool, and I've met lots of awesome and talented people because of these sites. I believe the ultimate solution is not to give up social networking, but rather really taking the effort to add more (when did this become a phrase?) face-to-face interaction with your facebook (or other social networking site) friends.
My blogs are important. I love writing, and sharing my ideas, and hopefully one day creating some dialogues from them. I don't love them more than my friends and family though. The real tragedy would be to hear me say, "I'm sorry ____, I can't see you tonight. I have to write my blog." or "Sorry ___, I can't come over, I need to catch up on Facebook." Sadly, a year ago you might've heard me say the former.
The point?
I will never feel guilty about passing up an hour or two working on a short-term goal (or even a long-term one) for the people in my life. My blog is still here today, and I had a great new subject to write about, because of not writing. Don't get me wrong, goals are important. You can't goof around all of the time to the point where you never accomplish anything, but keep your priorities in balance. Schedule equal times towards your goals and your relationships, and slowly you'll start to find that happy balance between time with yourself and time with others.
So back to that Facebook dilemma.... I challenge you to find one of your Facebook friends who you haven't seen in awhile, and would genuinely like to catch up with in person. Then, get together with them. It can be anyone. Just make it someone you don't normally see, or someone who you work with, but never talk to outside of that space. Once you start adding more real friendships to your life, Facebook will no longer be your prime means of interacting with people, but a little bonus to what you already have, or even better just a means of organizing real phone, or in-person conversation.
Next time...
Haikus.
Good night everyone, and (in my best Edward R. Murrow voice), good luck.
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