I just wanted to let you guys know if you were on my facebook account you can still reach me here. I deleted it because I was spending way too much time online being unproductive.
I feel like doing this was the best thing that could ever happen to me. Personally speaking, I feel like people care way too much about getting “likes” or being on the right side of a debate that it becomes a distraction that keeps us from our practices and experiencing life.
I started meditating 3 to 4 hrs a day and practicing yoga on a daily basis instead of using the internet. I’ve been doing this for two months now and it’s almost cut my internet bill down two thirds what I was previously paying.
I also quit smoking and switched to a vegetarian diet. It’s funny how easy it is to quit things like smoking when your mind becomes silent and you quit caring about stupid things that bring you down or people who make you frustrated.
I know this isn’t for everyone but it’s worth it. I now have a clear direction and I know what I want to accomplish. With all the newly acquired time I’ve got it’s easy to put these things in motion.
Anyways, I just wanted to let you guys know that I haven’t forgot about ya and I’ll drop by from time to time. I hope you guys are all doing well. HS
That’s awesome, and congrats on quitting smoking, too!
I also deleted my FB account a while back, and I can second how much better that can make you feel. I have a rule for my internet time that if I don’t feel better and more energized when I get up from the computer than when I sat down to it then something has to go. I’m pretty ruthless about it, frankly. With FB, not only was I getting caught up in stupid debates (“Never argue with an idiot” - Havamal stanza 122), but some of my friends and family were actually pressuring me to respond to a post or message within shorter and shorter windows of time. I began to feel like I had to check FB a certain times a day, and when the servant becomes the master, you know something has to change.
I too have noticed a massive increase in productivity along projects that are genuinely important to me, and just generally in making my skinspace life better. It really is a giant improvement.
I don’t have a facebook, but I see how this can be a distraction. I am happy how you are progressing. Of course I don’t know if I will ever go vegan…lol
BTW I loved your AOS chapter of your pathworking with Naamah and her familiars.
I’m online a lot for everyday-life reasons but I use LeechBlock (a Firefox add-on) to block, limit and otherwise give my willpower a boost for non-essential websites - I can’t recommend it highly enough! You can set it to do pretty much anything, it’s excellent (I think similar things exist for other browsers as well).
The best thing is, if you unthinkingly click a site you meant to limit to, say, weekends, or to 15 minutes max, you can pre-set it to throw up a different page, or show you an image you have on your computer - mine shows things like this:
This is great for stuff like Cracked, Metro, other sites I skip over to for a quick break but that can suck me right in and I end up wasting ages on them, for no long-lasting benefit.
Also, I started The Monday Post on here because those are the kinds of topics I research anyway, but giving myself a window to do that kind of reading, and also the need to get it out within a certain time frame (usually! lol) has helped me corral that kind of research into something manageable.
That’s helped focus it a bit more, whereas in the past I could find some cool story about (for example) neuroscience, or some ancient archaeological finds, then play “chase the linkies,” and next thing I knew two hours had slipped away.
So those all helped me, for times when walking away from the screen isn’t an option.
I too deleted my FB about 10 weeks ago. I just no longer felt the need to stay in contact with the mundane. I have always felt it required far too much personal info to work properly.
BTW - Just finished reading my copy of the AOS 2. Your chapter of your pathworking with Naamah and her familiars was well written. It revealed a great deal about you and your humble and honest approach to spiritual work. Very impressive.
