President Nelson asked the women of the church this past weekend to refrain from getting on social media for ten days. The youth of the church were asked to do this earlier this year, and I rather half-heartedly went along with the challenge (after all, I am not a youth).
When I heard the challenge this time, my first thought was "Really? Ugh." For me, social media is a way to stay connected to a lot of the friends I have. I like to send birthday wishes, and give some positive feedback to people's posts, hopefully helping them feel loved. I also have my news sources as "favorites" on my feed so that I get all my news headlines in one place. Lazy me, I don't like to go to NPR, and CNN, and National Geographic separately. Plus, I'm not on a bunch of social media sites--Facebook is my daily check (who am I kidding? I check it multiple times a day), and I check Instagram every couple of weeks. That's it. I don't usually have a feeling of despondency, or depression, or lack of confidence because I'm on social media, and I don't feel that it pulls me away from the Gospel.
However, Monday morning I got a text from Hannah, Glo, Rebecca, and Allison, all saying that they were starting the fast. Who am I to not jump aboard a family program?
And I decided to take it a step further. While social media might not take a lot of time out of my day, being on my phone does. I am constantly checking texts, playing Candy Crush, playing Lumosity, and deleting emails. In all honesty, John has wanted to buy me an Apple Watch for years (and did once), but I don't need another appliance notifying me of Scrabble moves I need to make, or news headlines that are "must reads", or knowing that someone just added a picture of a salad to their "story" on FB. So I decided to try and set aside the phone a bit as well.
So two days in and it's going pretty well. I refuse to stop texting with my family, and the Young Women's presidency that I work in communicates almost entirely through text, so I can't put the phone aside completely (nor do I want to), but I don't miss anything else. I don't miss Facebook at all, and it's freeing not being tied to games.
On the flip side, I have absolutely no idea what's going on in the world, and for a news junkie like me, that's a bit difficult.
However, I have noticed over the past months that the number of posts I write on the blog has gone down significantly (equalling less journaling). I have a stack of magazines that I haven't read (what a waste of money to have a subscription if I don't read them, and there are jobs around the house that have been undone for far too long (will I ever be completely unpacked from the move?).
In just the two days I've been off my phone, I have been crazy productive. In fact, I've been getting so much done that I've gone to bed both nights unable to move because my back is in so much pain (it's a good thing?). I've started reading my magazines again, and I'm flying through our book club choice, Dracula. John and I painted our family room. My house is cleaner. And probably best of all, at the end of the day, I can account for how I've spent the majority of my time. And look at me--I'm posting again. Maybe I'll actually find time to catch up on all the summer activities at some point...
Crazy, huh?
So this morning, I saw that I had a notification on FB. When I haven't recently posted, it's usually a notification about a birthday, and I don't really want to drop the ball on those, so I opened up FB. I was quickly drawn in. Did you know that Hurricane Michael hit Grand Cayman and is now on its way to the Florida panhandle? Did you know that many varieties of fish lay down on the ocean floor to get cleaned by cleaner shrimp?
Ugh, I was sucked in. Probably 15 minutes went by without my even noticing it.
And then I saw a post by a friend of Mark's. This man was in the YSA ward here in Ann Arbor for many years while he earned his Ph.D., and shared a common bond with Mark in that he served a mission in Russia as well. I met him at one of Mark's recitals and found him introvertedly fascinating. Great, deep conversation in a large social setting. And he's really smart and interesting, and as a rule, I love to read his FB posts about etymology and wildlife in general. As it turns out, he is leaving the church to some degree. It feels from what I hear and from what he posts that he wants to have the buffet style of church membership, choosing what he likes, and disparaging what he doesn't. Because of this, I have to be really careful when I read what he posts, because oftentimes his posts start out as some cool scientific thought which move into apostate writings.
Today was no exception.
In fact, within a couple of paragraphs, he was questioning the political timing of President Nelson asking us women to leave social media. And just a few sentences after that, he was mocking a part of the temple ceremony that has proven difficult for me to process in the past.
Holy smokes, hello Satan. This man isn't Satan, but how easily Satan works his way into our minds. Just fifteen minutes on social media, and I feel as if my Spirit has been scarred for the day. If I hadn't gone on today, I wouldn't have any of these feelings. I wouldn't question the prophet and his political intentions, keeping women off social media before a major election. I wouldn't question something in the temple. But there it is.
And with that, my testimony is strengthened about the wisdom of the prophet and his ability to see what is best for us. Again, just reading 1 Nephi 5-9 yesterday, and reviewing the parts of the vision of the Tree of Life, there are so many mists of darkness in today's world, trying to confuse and scare us, and yes, there are people mocking us and our beliefs. It's hard to hold to that iron rod, and yet what a blessing that the Gospel is there for us, leading us to real happiness.
I have learned my lesson. When you commit to staying off social media, listen to the prophet and STAY OFF SOCIAL MEDIA!
When I heard the challenge this time, my first thought was "Really? Ugh." For me, social media is a way to stay connected to a lot of the friends I have. I like to send birthday wishes, and give some positive feedback to people's posts, hopefully helping them feel loved. I also have my news sources as "favorites" on my feed so that I get all my news headlines in one place. Lazy me, I don't like to go to NPR, and CNN, and National Geographic separately. Plus, I'm not on a bunch of social media sites--Facebook is my daily check (who am I kidding? I check it multiple times a day), and I check Instagram every couple of weeks. That's it. I don't usually have a feeling of despondency, or depression, or lack of confidence because I'm on social media, and I don't feel that it pulls me away from the Gospel.
However, Monday morning I got a text from Hannah, Glo, Rebecca, and Allison, all saying that they were starting the fast. Who am I to not jump aboard a family program?
And I decided to take it a step further. While social media might not take a lot of time out of my day, being on my phone does. I am constantly checking texts, playing Candy Crush, playing Lumosity, and deleting emails. In all honesty, John has wanted to buy me an Apple Watch for years (and did once), but I don't need another appliance notifying me of Scrabble moves I need to make, or news headlines that are "must reads", or knowing that someone just added a picture of a salad to their "story" on FB. So I decided to try and set aside the phone a bit as well.
So two days in and it's going pretty well. I refuse to stop texting with my family, and the Young Women's presidency that I work in communicates almost entirely through text, so I can't put the phone aside completely (nor do I want to), but I don't miss anything else. I don't miss Facebook at all, and it's freeing not being tied to games.
On the flip side, I have absolutely no idea what's going on in the world, and for a news junkie like me, that's a bit difficult.
However, I have noticed over the past months that the number of posts I write on the blog has gone down significantly (equalling less journaling). I have a stack of magazines that I haven't read (what a waste of money to have a subscription if I don't read them, and there are jobs around the house that have been undone for far too long (will I ever be completely unpacked from the move?).
In just the two days I've been off my phone, I have been crazy productive. In fact, I've been getting so much done that I've gone to bed both nights unable to move because my back is in so much pain (it's a good thing?). I've started reading my magazines again, and I'm flying through our book club choice, Dracula. John and I painted our family room. My house is cleaner. And probably best of all, at the end of the day, I can account for how I've spent the majority of my time. And look at me--I'm posting again. Maybe I'll actually find time to catch up on all the summer activities at some point...
Crazy, huh?
So this morning, I saw that I had a notification on FB. When I haven't recently posted, it's usually a notification about a birthday, and I don't really want to drop the ball on those, so I opened up FB. I was quickly drawn in. Did you know that Hurricane Michael hit Grand Cayman and is now on its way to the Florida panhandle? Did you know that many varieties of fish lay down on the ocean floor to get cleaned by cleaner shrimp?
Ugh, I was sucked in. Probably 15 minutes went by without my even noticing it.
And then I saw a post by a friend of Mark's. This man was in the YSA ward here in Ann Arbor for many years while he earned his Ph.D., and shared a common bond with Mark in that he served a mission in Russia as well. I met him at one of Mark's recitals and found him introvertedly fascinating. Great, deep conversation in a large social setting. And he's really smart and interesting, and as a rule, I love to read his FB posts about etymology and wildlife in general. As it turns out, he is leaving the church to some degree. It feels from what I hear and from what he posts that he wants to have the buffet style of church membership, choosing what he likes, and disparaging what he doesn't. Because of this, I have to be really careful when I read what he posts, because oftentimes his posts start out as some cool scientific thought which move into apostate writings.
Today was no exception.
In fact, within a couple of paragraphs, he was questioning the political timing of President Nelson asking us women to leave social media. And just a few sentences after that, he was mocking a part of the temple ceremony that has proven difficult for me to process in the past.
Holy smokes, hello Satan. This man isn't Satan, but how easily Satan works his way into our minds. Just fifteen minutes on social media, and I feel as if my Spirit has been scarred for the day. If I hadn't gone on today, I wouldn't have any of these feelings. I wouldn't question the prophet and his political intentions, keeping women off social media before a major election. I wouldn't question something in the temple. But there it is.
And with that, my testimony is strengthened about the wisdom of the prophet and his ability to see what is best for us. Again, just reading 1 Nephi 5-9 yesterday, and reviewing the parts of the vision of the Tree of Life, there are so many mists of darkness in today's world, trying to confuse and scare us, and yes, there are people mocking us and our beliefs. It's hard to hold to that iron rod, and yet what a blessing that the Gospel is there for us, leading us to real happiness.
I have learned my lesson. When you commit to staying off social media, listen to the prophet and STAY OFF SOCIAL MEDIA!
I had a similar experience recently and it reminded me that I need to be discerning when using social media. I've been a member of a facebook group for women of the church for a while now and it's just in the last little bit that I've noticed the tone of the group change. Before it was pretty uplifting and supportive - lots of questions being asked and answered and uplifting stories and experiences shared. Lately it's become a place to murmur, complain, and second guess about the things you mentioned above and many other aspects of the gospel. I decided I had to leave the group. It wasn't a place that was lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy. After we take that step back from the world it's easier to see things as they really are and understand the wisdom of the prophet.
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