Reasons to Slow Down

This blog post started with the former video, sent to me by my wonderful boyfriend. Sit back and watch it. It will frame this post the way I want it.

Part of my reasoning for getting off the grid in a sense was to remove junk from my life, and slow down in a sense.

Unfortunately, college has gone by all too quickly. I've been able to enjoy the experience, but working so much (up to 35 hours a week a couple of times) and having a scholarship that requires me to take at 12 hours has made the experience very stressful, and caused me to just be ready to have one full time job (and have that be all that I have to do!). It's so hard to slow down. Essentially, when I finally get a chance to breathe, I crash - I fall asleep, just lay around, etc. People tease me once in a while about this... and I can't blame them. It's funny, I could probably sleep anywhere if given the chance... which is NOT normal. Like Carl says in his video, this can be perceived as lazy, but I've learned to just do me, and know my own limits. I don't recommend cramming as much in as I've had to, but it's been necessary for me and slowing down is the reason I've been able to make it work.

I think this is mainly because when I slow down and I am able to focus on refining myself, I know myself and my abilities much better, and am able to do other things better as a consequence. Being able to other things better means possibly making an impact on the world, God willing.

This past week, I was in New York City for spring break. It was a lot of fun. We crammed a lot in, but we didn't overdo it, which was so nice. What struck me most about the city was the amount of stuff there was to do. There was just SO MUCH of EVERYTHING. More is definitely more in that city: more big business, more clothes, more good food, etc. Realistically though, a lot of it is junk, just like social networking has been in my life. It's cool and everything, but it distracts us from what's important.
The biggest realization I had was that all of these things that people have invested so much in will fade. Buildings simply do not last forever, and whether someone is a Christian or an athiest, we all believe that someday the world will end. If the world ends, everything physical we've invested in will be meaningless, which is why slowing down is necessary.

The fact is that when we slow down, we invest in people and ideas that change our surroundings in a positive way. Instead of doing everything quickly to serve the institution, serve intentionally to serve the people and the morals you believe in. This can make the world a better place. For me, serving people and morals is the way I am able to glorify God, because I believe God works through those purposeful acts of service. And when I'm glorifying God rather than things that are man-made and will crumble, I am able find joy, even when I feel like I can't do enough in a day. That makes it easier to slow down.

My point is this - remove the junk, whatever it is, from your life so that you can focus on what really matters. You'll be more at ease and live life more joyfully, which will be contagious and spread to other people.

Getting off the grid.

I have decided that (now that campaigning, group projects, excuses, etc. are over) I'm getting off the grid. What that means is that I will be logging out of Twitter and Facebook, and having someone change my password so that I am not able to access it until further notice. The minimum amount of time will be until Easter, but I am going to try to wait until at least my birthday on April 24.

If you really care to see what thought-provoking, profound ideas are on my mind, you can find me here (or, of course, email me at SarahECrumley@gmail.com).

Here's why I'm doing this:

1. Time Management
   I currently work two jobs and am involved in two organizations (well, now only one because COSGA's over). This is IN ADDITION to 12 hours coursework, not including study/homework time. I have had a problem with getting distracted easily for my whole life. To be honest, I think I have A.D.D., but I also do not believe that medication is always the best way to go to fix that. I want to be able to manage my time myself, not because medication causes me to focus. Facebook and Twitter only add to my already distracted nature. They cause me to stumble when I am trying to be focused, because I get caught up in what's happening everywhere else but in my own life. And that's kind of a dumb thing to be wasting my time on. I would much rather read an informative news article if I need an update on the outside world, instead of what people I was acquainted with freshman year of high school are doing. So I've decided that if something is going to distract me and take away from my time management, it might as well be something worthwhile like catching up on the news, finding a useful recipe or craft on pinterest and actually making it (once in a while), blogging/writing, or reading a book (all of which are things that I love, and none of which are things I've made time for in the past 6 months).
   
2. Relationship Management
   One of the main reasons for me staying on Facebook is to stay connected with people. I am not the type of person who deletes people I don't really know anymore, though, so at almost 1,100 friends, I don't think I'm really staying connected with people I care about through Facebook. There are many other ways to stay connected, such as text messaging and email and *gasp* even phone calls. These are much more meaningful options and I would rather express that I care about people in this way as opposed to not having time to text back because I was too busy on Facebook or something. For a while I have had the excuse that Facebook keeps my events in line for me, but I've come to realize that if I'm likely to go to one of those events, I will have already found out about it through another means.
   
3. Shifting My Focus
   What's on Facebook and Twitter is not real. It's words in cyberspace. Sometimes those words have meaning, but as I mentioned before, there's other ways to explore the subjects that hold meaning to me in my life than through cyber relationships. As a communication major, we often discuss the instability of cyber communication; messages (whether intentional or unintentional) sent over social media websites can be informative, such as in the cases of promotions for companies and public relations, or they can be interpersonal/person to person. Messages between people often hold different meanings for different people - many people value conversations on Facebook, and many people see it as a shallow thing. I'm not saying either is right or wrong, but I think that when you place a high value on a wall post, chat message, or profile picture, then it's time to utilize other means of communication that aren't public or possibly unintentional. I definitely value when people post on my Facebook wall to say something nice, but I would rather someone send me a text message saying that, or an email, or something more intentional and less unconscious (not to say that it's always unconscious. BUT even if it's conscious, use another outlet) way to send that message. I'm sure other people would rather me do the same. This is actually a hard thing for me to give up career-wise, especially if I go into PR and Facebook changes again, because I might not understand what is going on anymore, but I think it will be worth it for my own sanity.

As for what you think about this, I'm not sure that I care. BUT I really did want to get back into blogging and writing, and I think this is the perfect way to do that, because it's an interesting topic. At the end of the day, if no one reads my blog and I'm just able to write about things I'm interested in, it's a good day, because I get to do something I love. I just figured I might as well share these thoughts, because maybe you'll get something out of them. I hope that you do.

To sum it all up, thoughts are real, the written word is real, which is why blogging is okay with me, but seeing that "@johndoe loves #dubstep" or "John Doe: I'm going to Chipotle for lunch today. Can't wait!" are not really thoughts that will add to my understanding of the world or will push me to be a better person. My ultimate goal in life is to grow closer to God and bring others closer to Him. I want to continue to refine myself in the decisions that I can control in order to bring glory to God; no, I will never be perfect, but the easiest decision I can make is to not let myself be distracted by things that will eat away at my short time on this earth. If you want to make an impact, you have to be intentional about where you put your time, and I would rather put my time into something like a blog, than something that's oversaturated like Facebook.

Yeah, that's about all I have right now...
I'm looking forward to this experiment.
For me, this is the best way to live my life, and whether you feel the same or not, I hope that you are able to live your life in a way that brings you closer to meeting your personal goals.
This is mine.