Day 1: Before starting the fast I watched an hour long YouTube video, once that was over my fast started. I went out to hang out with one of my friends soon after in downtown Kenosha. We went to a coffee shop, and we were able to talk the whole time with neither of us touching our phones apart to check what time it was. My friend picked up her phone to go on a website, but quickly put it down, and thought about what she was doing. I set a kind of example for her. An hour and a half talking at the coffee shop passed very quickly. We then walked down to the Kenosha Harbor. I was tempted to post on Facebook that I had been to the coffee shop with my friend. We took several pictures by Lake Michigan and of us by Lake Michigan, and I really wanted to post those pictures. That night I was looking up how they filmed "Homeward Bound" and almost clicked on the Facebook icon. Afterwards I watched "The Best of Me" on Netflix. I read a book, and studied the Bible. As I was lying in bed ready to fall asleep, I had a hard time, because usually I would scroll through my phone until I was too tired, but I couldn't do that.
Day 2: I drove home for Spring Break, and had to listen to the radio, as my iPod was dead, and I couldn't listen to my music from YouTube. I knew Spring Break would be hard, as there is a lot of free time. So it is hard finding things to do. Instead of social media I am reading "God's Lavishing Grace" (It's a great book so far, I would highly recommend) reviewing my church notes, watching TV, and coloring, as well as typing this to pass time. I'm hoping I'll be able to find more and more things to do throughout this month. My phone still has reminders from YouTube whenever one of the YouTubers I'm subscribed to makes a new video, so that's been a hard thing. Also the thought of what if I have a Facebook message I haven't responded to, which there most likely isn't or if there is, it's not important. I have found that I barely look at my phone, or go on my computer. Right now it really feels like I won't be able to do this, but I know that I absolutely can. As the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is within me. I also know of some of my friends who have done the "Daniel Fast" in the past which is 33 days of cutting out a ton of things out of your diet, and being able to eat a select few things, and the last week going completely without food. This too me seems more challenging then what I'm doing, but I hope one day I'll do the Daniel Fast as well.
Day 3: I've noticed the time I usually spent doing things online I've replaced with thinking about Godly things, and my life as a Christian. I no longer think constantly about YouTubers lives, or details of gossip posted on Facebook. This morning I went grocery shopping with my mom then went to breakfast with my mom and grandma afterwards. After breakfast I took a small nap, and watched a recording of the modern version of the passion done by Tyler Perry with my mom. Afterwards I had questions about what they had portrayed in the film, and looked those questions up. I also watched TV, read God's Lavishing Grace, as well as Isaiah in "The Bible" and colored in my coloring book as a way to pass time. When I was typing one of the faith questions I noticed myself begin typing Facebook in the search bar, but stopped myself before I got there. I was not so lucky later tonight when I was looking up info about the Beatles after watching a documentary about "John Lennon" It turns out my phone was logged into my Facebook, and by tapping on Google Chrome it took me to Facebook. I however immediately logged out before checking anything. I did see I had 3 unread messages and 24 notifications. It's now been almost 55 hours without social media.
Day 4: Today I went to Hobby Lobby with my mom as well as to lunch. We looked around Hobby Lobby for something that could occupy some of my time. I found wooden crosses I could paint, and stamp with different verses, and crosses. I'm thinking of maybe trying to relearn guitar or working on my postage stamp collection again that I used to do. (I have drawers and drawers full of postage stamps and stamp collecting tools). I'm worried about taking my guitar to college though as I wouldn't want it to be stolen. After lunch I took a small nap, then wrote down some information I had compiled from my book "God's Lavish Grace." I also made a blogpost comparing a child's drawing to our life with God as Christians. I thought I would feel inspired to make more posts, but couldn't put together enough information to make a good post. I haven't worked on the wooden crosses but hopefully tomorrow. I haven't looked at my phone barely at all today. Not looking at your phone very much makes the battery stay incredibly long, I don't think I've charged my phone in 2 days. I also studied for my Psychology exam next Tuesday. I am beginning to miss watching my favorite YouTubers though. To pass time I did a lot of coloring. I've noticed at night my mind has been rushing the last 2 days with a million thoughts. I don't know if it's because of the social media fast or being home. I do definitely find myself spending time soaking in God and his teachings which is great. I've also felt more at peace, and less stressed. It has now been 80 hours without social media.
Day 5: When I checked my email this morning, there was an email from Facebook trying to guilt me into going back to the website saying "A lot has happened since you last logged in." It also listed that I had 44 new notifications, and 5 unread messages. It makes me wonder who those 5 messages are from. Do they know I left Facebook for the month, or do they think I'm ignoring them right now. Is it important information, or just a "Hey Alex". I wonder if Facebook will keep persisting on giving me this information throughout this month. Today I began painting the wooden crosses I got yesterday. The ones I've done so far, have turned out cool! I charged my phone in the early afternoon, it is now evening and my phone is at 94%. Shows how much less I have used it then usual. It would usually be around 60ish% by now. I'm starting to feel the effects of being off social media. I'm currently in a place of boredom, that social media used to be able to mask. It's now been a little under 100 hours without social media. Brother and his wife came over to help pass time, and after they left watched "Jesus" the movie on TV. It was kind of cringe because it had some false teachings about Jesus's life to make the film more interesting, but it also taught me to listen closely to teachings to pick out false facts that may appear. It's the end of the night now, and I just got another email from Facebook saying I now have 53 notifications, but still 5 messages. I typed up another blogpost on cool places I've been.
Day 6: Today was very lazy. I think Facebook is probably going to email me each day now, as they did this morning, again. 62 notifications and 5 messages. Today I finished "God's Lavish Grace", and watched "Finger of God" as well as making a blogpost about the places I would like to go in the future. I'll probably add more places to that in the future. I got more crosses painted as well. I like to go on YouTube when I'm anxious, but had to find something else to cope. Its been about 151 hours now.
Day 7: Today is the last day of Spring Break which also happens to be Easter. The relatives on my mom's side of the family came to visit, so I was focused on talking with them. :) Even though I didn't get to see any of my Slinger friends over break, I got to see a lot of my relatives! I hope my dog will be okay he was breathing hard this morning. After everyone left the Easter gathering, I took a small nap on the couch, then got all my stuff together to leave for Parkside. A feeling of sadness has come over me now that I am back at Parkside, I'll definitely miss my parents and home-cooked meals. To pass time at Parkside I unpacked, did homework I had procrastinated on, and watched "Holy Ghost Reborn." I have now started reading "The Lion and the Lamb 2"
3/31/16
I went on Facebook, but it was an emergency. I have no other contact with my roommate then through going online, and I had dropped my room keys somewhere on campus. No one had turned them in yet, so I needed to use my roommates keys to get into my apartment. She's Chinese so she has no phone she can text or call from. So I have been on Facebook for about 5 minutes out of the total 151 hours I have been off of social media. I also decided to use YouTube to listen to worship music.
Instead of posting a daily feelings journal I thought I would post some activities I've done instead of going on social media.
Painting
Getting Coffee with Friends
Laser Tag
Reading
Coloring
Playing Pool
Watching Movies
Worship
Prayer
Walking by Lake Michigan
Writing
Blogging
So I only made it 15 days, realizing that social media is very important to the life of a college student in some forms. I am using social media way less than I used to now though, as I have put restrictions on how much I go on each website per day.
Facebook: occasionally log in
Tumblr: 15 minutes
Youtube= 3 videos per day
I've noticed that since adding Tumblr back into my life, I actually think about YouTubers more than I should. In the time I was fasting from Tumblr I thought about God instead. So that's one con of being back on social media. Facebook also comes really in handy for organizing times to hang out with people from like church (that's what I use it most for.) Also my roommate doesn't have a working American cellphone, so Facebook is the only way she can contact me about things. When using social media less, you see more of the world. You find more joy. Less stress. Less jealousy, More time. It's also been great not having Facebook Messenger, people need to actually reach out to me in different ways and have more important messages. Not small talk. There's no time for that, I want to get to know people, what their passions are. Without using social media, you find out who you really are, not who you think you are, or the version of yourself you've created.
No comments:
Post a Comment