Mitzi Flyte

I’ve decided to take a hiatus from Facebook…not all Social Media…just Facebook.

I was tired of reading diatribes about the Republicans, about the Democrats, about one nationality or the other, one race or the other.

After Justice Scalia’s death, I suddenly found myself saying things that made me ashamed. I realized I sounded like some of the posts on Facebook. That’s when I made the decision to no longer leave Facebook open all day…I no longer check it every few minutes.

My daughter had told me that I spent too much time on it anyway. I value her opinion and I wondered what else I could accomplish if I didn’t have that website open all day…while I wrote or thought about writing.

I’d been using Facebook to connect with friends that I didn’t get to see since I moved away. I used Facebook to make new friends. And I was using my Facebook writer’s page to make a platform to market my writing.

So I started my Facebook addiction rehab.

I would check the site once to see if there had been any Private Messages but I didn’t scroll down my newsfeed and I didn’t check my notifications. I would share (without comment) my charity notices from the Greater Good Network and any interesting news articles (also without comment).

I did continue to manage my author page, sharing articles about the paranormal and about writing. But that was it.

On the first day I found that I was looking for websites to read. I really had an online habit. I went through CNN, Huffington Post, MSNBC. I looked on Amazon Prime and Netflix for shows I wanted to watch.

And then I decided to write. What a concept! Use my time at the computer for writing.

This blog is one of the several things I’ve written in the last few days.

I’ve added to my nursing memoir and to a short story that’s been playing in my subconscious for the last month.

I’ve also been reading…reading…reading.

In addition to a Facebook hiatus, I’ve started a dream journal and a gratitude list – both I add to each day.

I did not like the nastiness that I was echoing from others’ Facebook posts.

So I decided to make one small change.

It may not last long. I may miss my old and new friends. But I will not have the site open on my laptop all day. It’s just too easy a time-dump.

And at 68, time is at a premium for me.