As I begin this post, the day marks two full months of no social media. During this time I have been thinking long and hard about the role of social media in my life. It seems silly to even admit that I had to think "long and hard" about it. But, over the last eleven years, it has certainly caused many misunderstandings, fed into spreading gossip, taken way too much of my time and generally annoyed me a lot of the time, so it deserves reflection. But, as a result of this reflection, I have to admit that it has also helped me in many ways. Through social media, I feel a sense of connection to my community, my family, my friends and my co-workers. I am inspired by the beautiful words and images of so many people. And I am informed and enlightened- about yoga, about cooking, about art- and so many other things.
The last thing I left on social media was a manifesto, written a couple of years ago. For the past couple of weeks, I've been reflecting on that manifesto as I peeked in on a few accounts that I follow on Instagram. What inspires me? What annoys me? What makes me smile? What makes me anxious? So, what did I come up with? The decision to return to social media, albeit in a much more limited way. Stepping away for a while has given me a clear vision of how I want to show up on social media and how I will definitely not show up. Stepping away has helped me realize that I can use it for the good things I have in mind for my business and use it in a more disciplined way. So, I won't be scrolling mindlessly for hours. My posts will be pretty basic (keeping up with all of the new features and formats is very overwhelming to me) and I won't be posting anything that doesn't fall into the GOOD THINGS category- connection, inspiration, knowledge and beauty. I will definitely not return to Facebook and will continue to keep my focus on this space- sharing links to my blog posts, announcing classes and events and posting the occasional inspirational quote, thought or photo, via Instagram and Pinterest.
This space, which seems pretty "back to basics", (you know, kind of like a handwritten letter compared to a typed one) is still the best place to tell my story. In my 55 years, I've had a few challenges thrown my way (and a few that I’ve thrown in my own way!). As the years progress, I learn even more lessons and feel better about where I am, how I got here and where I am headed. I also consider myself a lifelong student and, as I've stated here before, I truly believe that my purpose, for the rest of my time here on this earth, is sharing what I know (and admitting things that I don't know!), sharing lessons I've learned, and sharing what works for me and my life. My goal here is also pretty basic. If I can do it, I want to help you do it. If it works for me, I want it to work for you. If it is something that has helped me, I want it to help you. If it makes me happy, I want it to make you happy, too. You get the idea, right?! And, what's even better- I'm not fancy. Things that work for me and make me happy are, you guessed it, pretty simple and basic. I'm pretty sure simple and basic might work for you, too. 😊
I'll leave you with a few photos of simple, basic moments of gratitude, noticed only in moments of stillness and mindfulness, in our humble little home, on an ordinary Wednesday afternoon.
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| Gratitude for the texture and tiny bit of curl my hair has now that most of it (under the color) is gray/white. |
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| Gratitude for deciding to go ahead and use the fancy plates (brought back from Viet Nam by my Uncle Ted) for everyday meals, rather than store them in the basement. Do the fancy plates match anything else in my home? No. Do I love that? Yes. |
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| Gratitude for Carly, my son's girlfriend, who brought me a wine glass from their recent trip to Epcot, reminding me that I will, eventually, make it to France, even though my school trip to Europe was postponed, AGAIN. |
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| Gratitude for the way the afternoon sun lights up this room. |
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| And gratitude for finding so much pleasure in small things- like the way this candle (from introvert.home) makes the house smell SO good, but at the same time, you barely notice that it's there. |
So, I'm back, social media. We will see how this love/hate relationship goes this time around.😊
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