A Half Hour a Day

So, last week I made a bold move.  I disconnected my consciousness from both Facebook and Twitter. *GASP*  I know!!!

I had been considering it for awhile, and suddenly one day I just did it.  I said my “see you laters” and deleted both from my iPhone and my iPad.  I didn’t go as far as deleting my accounts…I figured that was a bit drastic and I never know these days which brash emotions are real and founded in truth or hormonally induced, so I took the leap cautiously.

It was the BEST thing I have ever done.  It has been liberating!  No more constant bingbong from my phone, beckoning me to engage in media consumerism.  No more continuous stream of “social” interaction.  (Honestly, we call it “social media” but really these sites allow us to be as antisocial as we can get.)  No more emotional suckotage.  (Yes I made that up…)  No more wasted time being pulled into the internet ten times a day.  No more innane babble.  I mean, seriously…does the world really need to know that I just had the urge to make chocolate chip cookies?  Do I really need to know that someone just drank a cup of pumpkin coffee?  The answer is NO!  I was just adding to the noise.

Why did I finally make up my mind to disconnect? Well, recently I was speaking to a friend who is disturbingly like me in many respects…I say disturbingly because all the quirky little hyper controlling things she does that I have always teased her about, are actually mirrored in me on a slightly less visible level.  She was diagnosed with Fibro about a year  before I was, and I was speaking to her recently.  We were discussing her work situation and she made the statement, “I’m having a difficult bout with the Fibro because I am an Empath and all the negativity in the building is making me sick.”

I had never heard the term empathy used as a noun before.   I looked it up later.  And OH MY GOD! I’m one of those too!!  (You too can take this handy little quiz.  Three or more yes’s and you can join the club!)  😉

Some questions that are floating around to help you determine if you are an Empath:

1- Are you extremely sensitive to the emotions and thoughts of others, often confusing the emotions of others with your own?  Um, definitely yes.

2- Are you an emotional sponge, soaking up the emotions of others, absorbing and dissipating the energy and problems of others, even at a distance.  Another yes.

3- Do you instinctively know when someone is lying or fibbing, almost always keeping your suspicions to yourself?  Always…it was a wonderful gift when I was teaching.

4- Do you tend to puts others at ease, allowing them to share their inner most feelings? Do you find yourself helping others, even casual strangers, understand the world and themselves better?  Others would have to answer that question.

5- Periodically, do you need to take time out, where you can be alone to meditate, recharge and experience your own mind without the interference of others? A resounding YES!!

6- Have you known about your unique sensitivity since childhood? Have you struggled with a burden-of-perceptions that others did not share.  Yup.

7- Do you sometimes use food, sex, drugs or solitude as a means of coping with you empathic or telepathic nature? Never.

8- Do you have to a use masked personality to protect yourself from others, only sharing your true perceptions with those you trust most?  No.

9- Do you have the ability to facilitate the process of rapid growth in those around you?  I don’t know about that one…

So there it is.  Do we have anymore out there?  Raise your hand!

I’ve always just figured I’m particularly perceptive.  And I don’t buy all the New Age mumbo jumbo attributed to the term, but I know this is something I have always struggled with and have had to learn to protect myself from.  I have worked all my life to disconnect my emotions from those around me.  It has been a daily struggle since I was a little girl.  Just ask my mother.  I am hypersensitive to peoples’ emotions and attitudes and my moods often reflect those of others.  I know a good soul immediately when I meet one…I am extremely wary of others—my first read of a person has been proven true time and time again so I no longer question it.  It is not something I was taught, it is just something I have always known about myself.  I’ve learned some coping mechanisms along the way;  I don’t watch the news for a reason.  I don’t watch crime dramas.  I don’t watch hospital dramas.  They simply aren’t good for me.  And now I see that Twitter and Facebook are similar…a constant barrage on the emotions.  Not good for someone with a personality like mine.

Then there was the time suckage!  Let’s just assume 4-5 minutes spent on these sites ten times a day.  That’s 40-50 wasted minutes a day!!

So I stepped away.

I have had so much more time and energy to devote to things that matter.  I miss Facebook and will go back to it soon…I enjoy connecting there with friends and family regularly, but I don’t think I will return to Twitter.  And I am making  rules for myself.  Desktop only…The sites will stay off my iPhone and iPad permanently.  I will deliberately check in when I want to, not when I am dragged in by tempting notifications.

No more time or emotional suckotage!  I’m FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Next post on the docket: Scott’s Challenge.  (Did I actually take any photos this year???)