My Retreat from Social Media and Smart Phones

Where did I go?

The best place.

I got back into the real world.

The world where the TV is off and the iPads are locked up.

The world where Saturday mornings are filled with children dancing to live piano music in my living room.

What have I been doing, you wonder?  (Especially since you can't prowl around on my FB feed.)

Well, I went camping with my family.

I took a good book for the car ride.

A book that shook me with weeping as its protagonist died in the arms of her true love.

A book that reminded me of my own mortality, and the pleasure of a good story.

I stared at the campfire and soaked in the glow, the crackle, the heat, and the soothing fog of smoke mingling with cool fall air.

I took my precious gift - my daughter who arrived late in life - on nature walks. 

We pretended the pine cones were corn-on-the-cob and the pine needles were spaghetti.  We had a meal on tree stumps fashioned into table and chairs.  

I went out for pho with an old friend. 

A steaming bowl of noodles on a cold day,

in the company of an old friend,

is far more pleasurable than a thousand likes on a Facebook post.

I called my parents more often.  The relations were better.

And...I was far more productive in the home and in my business.

Because, if you're always scrolling through your SM feeds, you really don't have time for much.

Whilst you were debating healthcare reform with your political arch-rivals, you could have been making zucchini brownies or securing new business.

Or scrubbing the toilet.

Or reading Captain Underpants to your son - with expression.

It's true.

Social media junkies don't really have time to clean, and they definitely don't have time to play the piano.

Well, I can't have that!

So.

I'm going digital-free. 

Social media and smart phones are no longer part of my life.  And I'm all the better for it.

GOOD BYE, DEVICE IDOLATRY!

FAREWELL, TECHNOLOGICAL CANDY!

I have been to the candy store and partaken of your tempting sweets.  And I found that they did more damage than good in my life.  Your sugar messed me up, even though your novel newness tasted good -- for a while.  And your peripheral damage to my family and friends was even more tragic.

So, if your social media causes you to sin, pluck it out.

If your smartphone causes you to sin, pluck it out.

Out of your life for good.

Instead of scrolling through rubbish, read quality writing.  

Instead of screens, read books.  Or write a book! 

Make music. 

Have lunch with friends because you love those friends, not because you need to document your pretty, drunk faces and martinis on Facebook.

Get on the carpet with your kids and build a ferris wheel with Kinex.

Make a beautiful leather scrapbook instead of smearing your kids' faces across the internet, seeking the approval of man.

So, yes, there was a divine directive.  And I heard it loud and clear.

I am back.

I am engaged.

I am focused.

I am present.

I am intelligent.

I am a good listener.

I am guided by higher principles rather than popular practice.

I am back to being a better piano teacher, pianist, composer, mom, friend, daughter, and sister -- without the distractions of addictive technology.

And that is why I left social media and smart phones.