Off Grid: The Rant

I've always found the idea of living "off grid" tempting. I could never pull it off because of my strong ties to family and love of hygiene, but I like the idea of it. The world is so connected. In some ways this is positive (blogging as a forum to share your thoughts with others and meet new people you would have never known otherwise--for example), but most of the time I find it frustrating.

I feel like the access to information is over stimulating. It is quite impossible to be informed on every single thing. But you're criticized if you are not since you have the access to it.  And now, you can not only know all you want to know about anything, but you can pretty much know all you want to know about anyone through Facebook and other social media sites. No politician or celebrity is safe. Skeletons cannot be kept in closets any longer.

Technology is wonderful and I'm totally dependent on it, but it's moving all too fast. Society is changing faster than it ever has in history...and it's hard to keep up. (I'm pretty sure the amount of information in my head would make me a genius 400 years ago).

I could probably simplify my life more if I deleted the majority of my social media sites. Back in February I decided to take a hiatus from Facebook and it was wonderful. I only returned to Facebook because I felt like I had too. I'm involved in church groups that use that as their means of communication and if I'm not on Facebook it's much harder to connect to the community I am in. Further, I'd lose contact entirely with some of my friends and I do like knowing what they're up to and where they are.

Yet...I somehow still have the urge to run away and live in a mountain town in Colorado with no internet access at all somedays. I don't want to be a hermit, I just want more meaningful relationships and more simplicity in my day to day.

I don't think it's any secret that Facebook has issues. See this article.

For me, Facebook is probably the reason it took me 2 years to get over an ex-boyfriend instead of 2 months. Facebook sucked up an unhealthy amount of my time in college. Facebook is the reason for a lot of misunderstanding and miscommunication rather than conversations in my family. Facebook has become a constant annoyance in my daily life and never mind the privacy issues.

I used to love Facebook when it first came out. It was just coming into prominence when I graduated high school and at that time it was just for college students (oh how I miss those days). I thought it was fabulous, and I was excited to keep up with all my high school friends that would have otherwise been lost. At the time I could not have imagined going without it (addiction anyone?). Now suddenly I'm sick of it. Maybe I take it too seriously. Maybe because I'm married I just don't feel the need to be as socially involved as I once was, I don't know. But I'm starting to resent Facebook.

Most people dream about being famous. The idea of being famous makes me cringe. I daydream about in person relationships and a secluded oasis...is that so terrible?