I woke up this morning and found that overnight I had received 21 new emails, had three missed calls, two people I don't know are following me on Pinterest and three people are following me on Twitter, don't know them either. I have six facebook messages, nevermind a wall that I will never catch up with and several comments to answer on my blog. I perused my blog list and found nine blogs I follow posted new articles.
I have been out of bed for approximately one hour and already I have guilt. Yup, guilt.
- I am not sure I let God plan my family size properly.
- I am not a supermom.
- I am homeschooling all wrong.
- I am not discipling my children the way I should.
- I am not eating healthy enough.
- I am not cutting expenses enough.
- I might be living too well.
- I might not be sacrificing enough.
- I might not be ministering enough.
I just can't keep up, I am drowning in social media. It is robbing me of time, precious time. I mean please tell me how a woman can be wife, mother, manage a home, blog, tweet, pin, FB, set up linky parties, travel for speaking engagements, write books/articles and be sane at the end of a day or week. I suspect they are not doing a great job. So why do I feel guilty? Do you? How do you all handle this over abundance of social media--inquiring minds want to know!
Good Morning, I had to giggle over your post: I also can feel like I have opened a door of things and stuff that was never intended to be apart of my life. Do not feel guilty just reorganize and let go of things that do not produce a harvest. I tell myself I am required to be present in the now, not always just trying to catch-up!
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Roxy
Honestly, I either skim or ignore a lot of it. I apologize for adding to your list by commenting. ~giggle~
ReplyDeleteI have three blogs (only one I post to almost daily) but I don't have FB or twitter, and I only use pinterest to hold my pins -- I don't browse. Trying to have it all is like spinning the proverbial plates. If some are spinning, some are crashing. You have to prioritize and ignore those things that are not priorities. One of my favorite movies lines (One True Thing -- very tragic film but this line has stayed with me) is: (paraphrased) "It's so much easier to chose to love the things you have than to always yearn for the things you don't have, or imagine you don't have. It's so much more peaceful. "
ReplyDeleteThat is so true -- if we just love the things we chose, we can be "full" and not always want more.
You are in no danger of drowning if you do not approach the water in the first place.
ReplyDeleteOh I know the feeling Suzanne and after reading 'Almost Amish' by Nancy Sleeth, I was very convicted by her chapter on technology. I have just gone through my blog list and deleted the blogs that I only skim or hardly ever read (not yours!) and ones that were duplicates of others (e.g I only need to follow one homesteading blog and chose the one I found most useful). I unsubscribed myself from a number of decorating/craft blogs because pinterest is now the place I can find ideas all in the one place. It only takes a few minutes to browse the pinners pics I follow (secret is not to follow too many) and I can return later to read the article/tutorial if I have time. I honestly don't know how many of the super bloggers do it. I read of one girl who had hired domestic help so she could write her blog which ironically was a homemaking blog - I think something is amiss if you have to do that! I have recently set up a small business from home which does require me to do markets. As I have added something in to my life, something had to be taken away and that was regular updates and informative posts at my blog. I do have a facebook page for the business and I've found it very useful for promoting my cake stands. I only put up pictures and status updates which are about my business itself though and I have never used twitter as I don't have a need for it. I doubt I will ever write a book or an ebook or be asked to speak at a conference. I'll never have thousands of followers but that's not what I am seeking after. I know others would say they never sought lots of followers but once you have them you feel a certain obligation to them. One thing that concerns me that the ones who are giving out the advice, who post often, are writing ebooks and running/speaking at the conferences are often younger women with small children.
ReplyDeleteOkay, that was the longest comment I have posted in some time (I comment less these days) but you have been thinking exactly what I have been thinking of late.
Hello Ann,
DeleteI will have to check the book out. I am always looking for a good read, but again, finding time to sit and read...LOL! Yes, I am going through my blog list too. Yours is always a comfort though:-)
Blessings,
Suzanne
Oh yes! My husband and I were discussing this very topic this morning. He had just received a request from a friend to join yet another on-line group thing (my ignorance shines through here...). It is just too much, isn't it. Last week a friend summoned the courage to ask how often my husband checks facebook. My answer, "about once every three months or so." She and her family had been sending us on-line invitations to movie nights at their house, and we, not ever receiving the invitations, had not been responding. She asked what our prefered method of communication might be. I wanted to say, "Talking like this is great, or a card or note." Instead, I replied, "E-mail, please." We received and accepted an invitation for a movie that following Friday evening.
ReplyDeleteI think you make a good point about all the guilt that piles in. If I spent half the time living my life as I could spend reading about living my life, I'd be much better off indeed. We do need to encourage one another to be better, to deepen our faith, and to aspire to loving homes. Perhaps social media is just like television. It is beneficial in carefully considered doses.
Susan
Social media is a huge temptation these days...in the same ways that yacking on the telephone for hours, or watching TV perhaps used to be. I also think it's a way for women's feet to run from house to house gossiping (and feel less guilty about it, because you're never really literally leaving home), as Scripture warns us about.
ReplyDeleteFor me, I have to set some reasonable limits. Twitter? Uh...I'm not really even sure how that works, and I just haven't gone down that road because I don't need one more thing. Pinterest?...that's fun, but it can suck hours of your time. FB?...same thing. Basically, I allow myself to check briefly on my blog, FB, and my shop each morning. If I have a teensy bit more time, I might do more. Then I try to leave it alone for the day, because hearth and home call and that's what God wants me busy doing. Then, in the evenings, when my family wants me sitting and watching a movie with them, or listening to the news on TV, then I blog, FB, check my shop, and maybe (if I can stay awake) do some Pinterest browsing. I easily fall asleep if I'm not doing something in the evenings, so everyone in my house is happy to have mom on the computer (or knitting!), because it keeps me awake longer!
I agree wholeheartedly , Kate!
DeleteHi Suzanne, I appreciate your heart sharing on this post, as I have been on this same train of thought for months. I would like to encourgae you that instead of guilt to feel, feel the sense of the the Holy Spirit pricking your heart to continue to seek God on each of the 9 points you shared. As I do not fb, tweet, blog, or pin, though I have viewd these places in the past, and was a part of your group, Take Peace, for a while, but, as you, found it robbed me greatly of precious time to do the daily and extra daily living at our home. I enjoyed your group very much, but with a very long hospital stay with one of our children and then being home and their care becoming more involved, I had to leave.
ReplyDeleteJust recently I read an article on yahoo news concerning fb and how it really took so much peoples time; it mentioned how it caused people to get into arguing, spending more money, and who has all those 'friends' really. It made me so some more hard thinking, because it does lead to so much that people do not take into consideration. If we as wives and with our families are doing daily what is needful, spending the majority of our time and energy towards the basics, which are food, shelter and clothing, and yes, I would include homeschooling, church, etc. we will not have hardly anytime for all the avenues that call to us from the computer.
The Lord bless you and give you much light and encouragement as you continue to seek HIim.
In Joy,
vivian
Thanks, Vivian! Yes, I remember you on the group. Everyone needs to take breaks or say goodbye. Family is always the most important!
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