Affirmation Junkie – weaning from Social Sites

I spent the greater part of yesterday “hunkered down” at the house, save for one small trip to the store for tongue depressors for math class. . . .

During my time home without interruption, I prayed and weighed truth – to how much I continue to do, for the hopes that someone, anyone, will comment – and say well done, or think Well Played or Well Presented or Well Taught, or Great Effort or such.

I have a Twitter Account and a Facebook Account.  I post things there often, in the beginning it was a social network of friends that all lived in the same town.  A post proclaiming that we were going to go sledding, would round up friends who had the afternoon off.  A post about perking coffee in the afternoon would gather thirsty tired caffeine deprived friends. A post about  a river walk would spark a nature journal class and letterboxing impromptu trip.

Now, away from the crowds, without spontaneous friends, my posts seem to not have meaning.  Who really cares if we just got back from the beach, or if we are going to go trout fishing or if we are playing with tongue depressors  for the 2-5 ours that our status will be on top of Twitter or Facebook.  What am I wanting from that? To tell you the truth, I’m really not sure.  I’ve been sharing our lives for the hope of someone joining us for so long that I’ve lost focus on priorities and the why.

I post on Twitter and Facebook to let people know I’ve updated my blogs. But really, I could email the friend that is specific to the post, message them even.  If I find a great link, why not send it specifically to the friend that came to mind, instead of pulling in 127 other people?

I sit in my cozy chair, with a fleece blanket given to me by a friend, with a steamy cup of coffee over looking a beautiful lake. My family is at rest still this morning, I had a wonderful time reading Psalm 72 this morning. I could draw, or fold laundry, but instead, I push myself into the lives of other affirmation junkies on line.

If the only virtual friends that I make on Facebook, those willing to have online one line banter with a long time friend, with no possibility of in real life get togethers, and I am feeding their need for affirmation, is it what is causing the hole in my heart of not being filled?  Always giving to them, in the hopes that they will push my like button as well? Always serving, Always sharing, Always going.

So – the action plan that I have prayed about, thought about, pondered really for the past several days -

Cancel Twitter.  One line ramblings of people promoting a product or total affirmation junkies.  Retweet what I’ve said! Um. No.

DeStatus Facebook.  The fact remains that most of my family and real friends have given up the way of emails, and gone to chat and messaging on Facebook.  I do like to be connected, and be a part of their lives, so it will not be cancelled. But before I post several random links or status updates, I will searchingly ask, who am I encouraging with this? What am I asking for? Who really needs to know my flittering thoughts?

I do not need Twitter or Facebook to promote my blogs. I am writing them for my family, as a year book of sorts for my boys at the end of the year.  I really could care less who reads them, but they are tagged in such a way that if someone wanted to know about the areas I share, they could see how we do things.

I am going to step down from the offer of being a product tester for a homeschool magazine.  The job has not started yet, but one of the main requirements is stirring up the crowd of friends enough to promote the product for sales. I earn nothing. I spend alot of time reviewing products I may not even ever use, telling my family – I’m Working, while the bank account remains the same. . . . .

I am going to keep pondering the balance of Affirmation Junkie Activities with openly sharing a life with people. I have taken time to step back and see who my real friends are, and who just likes to banter with me online. I am considering which long time acquaintances I will continue to post with, in the hopes that “when the kids are grown” yada yada, we’ll get together.

I want to be a Child of the King. At Peace and At Rest. Resting in the knowledge of his saving Grace. Knowing He loves me and my Hope is in Him. Not in the continual checking to see if someone has commented on a status update. :)

Thanks for listening to my ramblings. How do you balance being an Affirmation Junkie with Facebook with Twitter and with Blogging?