Solitude

Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter...I've got 'em all. My generation is full of social media junkies. People rave about how Facebook put them in touch with friends they've lost contact with or how Facebook let's them keep up with their family who live far away, yada yada yada. And as a girl who has family spread across the continent, I think it's great! But Facebook and other social medias can have their darker sides. Maybe we've seen people going on vacations or buying new, pretty things and it stirs up a little jealousy or materialism in us. Maybe we've felt the need to show off a little for all our online friends. Or maybe we've seen what our friends have said online and just been annoyed. Whatever it is, we've probably all had moments like these. Now, I'm not trying to say that Facebook is pure evil and you should never use social medias! But I do think we could all use a bit more disconnect in our lives.  A writer I enjoy, Marya Mannes,  once said, "The great omission in American life is solitude...that zone of time and space, free from the outside pressures, which is the incubator of the spirit." And in Mark 6, we find Jesus telling His disciples that they should find a "quiet place". There's something that happens when we get alone and quiet ourselves a bit. It lets us pay attention to ourselves and helps reconnect us to the most important thing in our life, our own spirit.

So if you're a social mediaholic like me, take some time this week to consciously disconnect. Maybe you can give yourself a time limit or maybe you just don't get online at all for a whole day. And if you want to see how someone's day is going, just give them a phone call rather than checking their Facebook. It's more fun that way!