A couple of days ago, I watched a documentary called “Minimalism”. It’s about, you guessed it, minimalism. After the movie, I found myself searching my home to see what I could get rid of. Too many shirts? Do I really need those jeans I haven’t worn in forever? What’s with all the gadgets? And then… something struck me. I really don’t have a ton of material stuff that doesn’t serve a purpose but I do have a closet FULL of crap out there in the interwebs that brings me no joy. It’s called Facebook.
Every time I use it I feel no more happiness, zero connection and usually feel pretty… kinda gross. It felt as though my soul was eating fast food everyday. I had been conditioned to believe that it was bringing me closer to others and more informed about the world. That if I didn’t have this product then I would be missing out on something. But what would I really be missing? Pictures of people’s food, someone shooting video of themselves with digital dimples making duck lips, a cat playing a piano, a shot of someone doing an arm balance (incorrectly) on a rock by the ocean with the caption “no filter Tuesday?” Ummm… ok. Social media isn’t selling a product… they’re selling US. We’re the product and our price is our information. The cost for this free service is us sharing our lives with way more people than our “friends” on Facebook. It’s like if you went to McDonlad’s to buy some fries and they said “the fries are free if you tell us where you live, who all your friends are and if you throw in a couple pictures of your kids we’ll give you a small Coke.” Ummmm… no thanks.
So, you guessed it, I deleted my Facebook account. I guess I’ve became an “energetic minimalist”. What are you holding onto (material or energetic) that isn’t serving you anymore? Maybe it’s time to minimize? I sure will miss those cat playing piano videos though.
