Ten Reasons to Leave Facebook in 2017

Just to be clear right off the bat, I’m not leaving Facebook, not yet anyway. I’ve finally found a good balance between being on Facebook and fasting from it on a regular basis; I fast every few months or so, sometimes for a few days, other times for a couple of weeks. Every now and then I think of deleting my account (instead of just deactivating) but Facebook is the default communication method for many of my relatives and close friends as well as work colleagues, so probably not going to happen as long as there are real people, real reasons to stay.

No, this is more a list of reasons I’ve considered at one time or another, reasons I come back to now and again — I offer them for inspection, because I believe in the need for an examined life, and in case you were up to some examination yourself, you might find it helpful. But whether to leave or not, or whether to leave temporarily or permanently, is up to you.

1. I need to be more picky about what forms/informs me. 
   Plan of action: Trim down my Feedly feed to essentials — balanced, timely, kind coverage of current events. Be on social media primarily for relationship and prayer.
2. I need my Savior, the Doctors and Fathers of the Church, the saints, and the great thinkers and believers to feed me instead. 
   Plan of action: Continue praying Liturgy of the Hours, work on my endless pile of books and e-books.
3. I am tired of shallow ideas and small talk and empty chatter. 
   Plan of action: Be more intentional about friendships/relationships; stop spreading myself too thin.
4. I need to be where I am needed most and where I can make the biggest difference. I need to be a conduit of beauty and grace to others.
   Plan of action: Declutter/minimize. Sew, make, knit, crochet, build, write, garden, cook, and bake. Find splendor in the ordinary. Volunteer more regularly with the family. Keep my hands busy, and not on the keyboard.
5. I want to think about things more fully, deeply and widely. 
   Plan of action: Study specific topics as if I were preparing to teach a course on them.
6. I need to trust that God knows all the little details of my friends’ lives and that He loves them more than I can. I don’t need to be informed to love and pray for them.
   Plan of action: Pray more. Pray more. Pray more.
7. I need more time to do the things that really matter, and maybe even things that don’t, not to the world anyway. 
   Plan of action: Photo albums, handwritten letters, that infographic and that presentation and that booklet I’ve been meaning to finish.
8. I need more beauty in my life.
   Plan of action: Stop paying attention to all the negativity. Get out of the house and go on pilgrimage, a road trip, anywhere. Visit more people.
9. I need to be more charitable. I need to trust that the Holy Spirit is working at all times and EVERYONE gets called. I can keep on planting seeds, but the work is best left up to Him. 
   Plan of action: Pray vs. debate.
10. I need to be silent, to listen. 
    Plan of action: Be still.