When Sharing Isn't Caring

If you're friends with me on Facebook you know that I'm a pretty active user of the site. Not to the point where I feel the need to update everyone on what I'm eating for lunch, but I definitely post pictures and links or update my status a few times a week.

I always feel pretty strongly about the things that I post. For example, on Friday I shared a link to this amazing video of some baby pandas going down a slide. YOU'RE WELCOME.



Or just yesterday I decided to ask everyone's opinion on the sizing of Ugg boots because I'm in the market for a new pair and I don't remember what size my old ones were.

Look, I never said this shit was important. I just said I felt strongly about it.

In any case, as time goes on and Facebook more and more becomes the medium for sharing EVERYTHING, I find that I post more and more frequently. When I first got my smartphone I used to post a mobile upload maybe every few weeks. Now I'm constantly taking pictures of random things on the street and blasting them out for my friends (and "friends," as people on Facebook so often are) to see.

At some point during my year of Joy Juice journaling, there was a prompt that asked you to imagine what it would be like to do something without feeling the constant need to share with everyone. To create something, enjoy something, or partake in something just for you. Not to get likes or comments or laughs. This idea really resonated with me because at this point, anytime something good or bad or funny happens, I immediately begin thinking about how I can bring other people into the moment with me. Which sounds like a friendly gesture in theory, but I think in actuality it dulls the experience.

As an example: I have a very strong stance on spending a minimal amount of time at concerts taking photos or videos. Because I always find that when I'm concentrating on taking a picture, I'm NOT concentrating on the music. And you know what sucks? Realizing that you were so obsessed with capturing a band singing your favorite part of your favorite song that you weren't actually paying attention to your favorite part of your favorite song. So I don't do it anymore.

Similarly, I'm starting to wonder if I've ever been so obsessed with trying to catch the Kodak moments in my life that they start to become ONLY Kodak moments and not actual great life moments. Am I leading a life so consumed with sharing that I'm no longer experiencing? I don't think it's that extreme, but I want to test out the theory.

So I've decided that for one week, from December 23rd through December 29th, I'm not going to share anything. No Facebook posts, no tweets, no nothing. I may allow myself to write blog posts, but only if they're not specific to that week of my life. Furthermore, I'm not allowed to save up material during that week to post later. No taking camera pictures and posting them as soon as December 30th hits. For one week, I'm just going to live my life and take it all in and not blast real-time updates to 500+ people who really don't need to know. Of course, I can talk about my week in any way that I normally would - while out to drinks with a friend, while on the phone with my parents, etc. But no social media.

I'm interested to see if I start feeling more involved in my own life once I stop feeling the need to show everyone else what good a time I'm having. I wonder if I'll do things differently or make different selections if I know that I won't be sharing what I'm doing with the masses.

I'm really excited for this. Because it's Christmas week and I don't celebrate, I'll have some free time on my hands to start new projects and do more things for ME. And not for my Facebook friends.

**This is my new series called Stratejoy Monday. To learn more about all this goodness, see the first 5 months of my Stratejoy journey here.