The last several weeks I have been cleaning. No I don’t mean just cleaning my natural house either. I have been cleaning up my social media and what like in entertainment and who I choose to entertain.
I have been slowly pulling away from reality television to start with. There are series that I watch that I have been deciding not to watch anymore. That doesn’t mean I have sworn all of it off, but slowly but surely I will get there. At this point it’s not that entertainment can’t be fun, but it can also be draining. I am on a new wave as I conclude this year to find other ways of entertaining myself. To be sure that I don’t, I make sure I don’t record it. Do you know how much room my DVR has now? Lots of space for me to record documentaries, movies, or things for my kids and I to watch together as a family.
Another thing I have been doing is cleaning out my social media. Now let me be honest, I have an impressive block list. This is simply out of respect that my rule is I block in real life than I block in social media and not the other way around. I do not block on social media just because I am temporarily mad over an issue. We use the block feature so loosely that it really doesn’t have meaning. I block after I have come to the decision that I do not want to interact with a person or group of persons in real life. I am not a social media thug. So no posting about what is wrong, posting petty memes. I live in real-time. So no you do not need to see pictures of my kids, what I am doing, who I am with, etc. That privilege is lost. Check out the features you have on your social media. You can really control who the audience of your page goes to and who you allow to sit under as well.
One last thing about cleaning out my social media is my children. Social media was developed to bring people together. My children are the best parts of me. I have friends and some family all over the world. I am not going to be able to see them as often as I would like. Allowing them on my social media is a great way for them to see my kids grow. With that in mind, we have closed up how we post on social media where they are concerned. We don’t post them in real-time. We do not allow anything identifying where they live, go to school, etc This prevents as much as we can, from others being able to go online and getting a social print of them. I am not saying this is super fool-proof because it’s not but it at least allows me to put forth an effort. Those who need to know the intrigue details know from my husband and I communicating those details. Another app I use now is BlurPhoto for Apple Phones. (Android Phones Blue Photo) It is used to blur out anything that you don’t want shared. I use this to block out names, other kids, and anything damaging to my kids’ identity. Please get the app and use it. It is free by the way.
One last thing, do not let anyone on your social media you don’t want on there. You get tired of seeing their post than delete them. Don’t want them to know you deleted them then limit their access to you and your access to them. Anything that makes you upset over social media can be tweaked in a way to keep your sanity. There is an over indulgence in what we look at, what we take in, who we take in, etc You have always had the power. Clean it up and create places of peace. All of those groups you are in, get out of them. I was in a several marriage groups and they were places of nothing but contention and arguing and trying to show what you know. I got to the point where I don’t need support for my marriage outside of the actual marriage. In real life I wouldn’t consort with such a large group of people so why do it now. Having a person or a few folks you can confide is one thing, but opening up Pandora’s box is unhealthy.
Trust me this will help you weed out real life friendships too. As you change you don’t engage as much in real life to those things that are no longer serving your bottom line-get there! Again as I always say this is what works for me There is something that works for you but we all can use a little back up from social media and the headache that we not social media bring into our own lives.
Also on your phone too, you can mute group messages,. Those messages will be there when you decide to unmute them. I refuse to be a prisoner to my phone, social media, and anything else that do not matter in the long run. This is coming from someone who loves social media. Step back, try it out for a little while, I promise you its super fulfilling.
