It sounds silly to even ask the question. As the infamous Dave Chapelle said, “Twitter is not a real place,” but, for many of us, it is. For me, it was. I have lived most of my life in small towns and prefer it that way. I want to be able to walk to the local coffee shop and know the baristas by name. I like no-traffic and sharing tomatoes from my garden with my neighbors. I love wide open spaces and spotting rabbits in the backyard. But it can be socially isolating at times, especially when your interests are a bit niche.
I miss your voice in the Twitterverse, but I'm glad you're enjoying more space. I took about a year and a half off socials recently, and to me it felt a bit like stepping out of a train tunnel and climbing a hill above. I could still feel the rumbles occasionally, but they weren't directly in my ears, you know?
“I filled any space and every silence with something. I wonder how many hours - how many days - I have lost? It is a question that grieves me.” This is a question I started asking myself this year at 49. The year my sons are now both adults and leaving the nest. The habit of scrolling and posting takes too much precious time. I have chosen to take the apps off my phone, but then find myself putting them back on while I’m waiting in a long line. What you’ve written here has me considering what I need to do. Thank you for writing this.
“I don’t know what people are angry about today and I don’t care. It’s wonderful.” Love this! 😆
FWIW I followed you on Twitter, and then followed you here. I’ve backed WAY away over there, and it’s much better for my soul. But I’m glad for people like you that I found there. I’m glad for the many different voices I learned to hear there. Glad many of them are here too, so I can still be shaped by them.
Love this Rachel and so happy for you ! I wish the whole world could read your post because it rings true for so many! The older I get the more important the solitude in some part of my day has become the time I look forward to. I have never been on twitter or instagram , FB is overwhelming enough and I have moved away from reading everyday … I found it to be wasted time and not alot of substance most of the time. Some days I leave my phone upstairs and only carry it if I am leaving the house , if my kids really need me .. we still have our land line 😂
I can just see you , Evan, and Hilde enjoying your precious time together … you are a wise young woman Rachel 💕
I can relate to much of this with leaving Instagram. It’s so freeing to not have that constant “itch” to be on my phone and I’m able to be more involved in my real life.
This moved me so much and it's written so beautifully. I'm still on twitter but never used it much; I recently quit Instagram completely which was my main social platform, and my whole life got quieter. Thankful to you for talking about this. It's so quietly radical for Christians with any creative or intellectual bent to NOT heavily use social media, but I am finding I'm more healthy away from it
I miss you and Evan on social media. But I also understand completely what you are saying . Everyone fights over who is right. And they're not very Christlike in sharing their views.
I'm tired of it, too...I have friends there that I want to stay in touch with, but I'm seriously considering taking a break. Giving friends my email and phone # (For close friends) and just deleting the apps.
You and your kind spirit, insight, wisdom, smile, and the way you share Jesus are greatly missed. ❤️
I sure miss seeing you, and catching glimpses of your darling family, on Twitter. But there is no doubt that if something is that toxic for you, you must turn it off. Good for you for protecting your heart and soul and perspective. I appreciated your winsome words, as my Twitter feed is pretty closely cultivated to provide lots of encouragement and zero drama, and your absence is felt... But I am mostly glad you did what the Lord showed you to be best for your family!
I'm feeling this and trying to figure out exactly how to move forward. I definitely hit 40, and hit some type of wall. It didn't have much to do with my age I don't think, just the fact that I had about twenty years of inner things to examine, wash, mend, fold, sort, and potentially discard. I've been working on that for about a year, and I still have some work to do. I'm not sure social media is giving me as much slack as I need to do the work well.
I miss your voice in the Twitterverse, but I'm glad you're enjoying more space. I took about a year and a half off socials recently, and to me it felt a bit like stepping out of a train tunnel and climbing a hill above. I could still feel the rumbles occasionally, but they weren't directly in my ears, you know?
Grateful for the work you're putting out here!
“I filled any space and every silence with something. I wonder how many hours - how many days - I have lost? It is a question that grieves me.” This is a question I started asking myself this year at 49. The year my sons are now both adults and leaving the nest. The habit of scrolling and posting takes too much precious time. I have chosen to take the apps off my phone, but then find myself putting them back on while I’m waiting in a long line. What you’ve written here has me considering what I need to do. Thank you for writing this.
“I don’t know what people are angry about today and I don’t care. It’s wonderful.” Love this! 😆
FWIW I followed you on Twitter, and then followed you here. I’ve backed WAY away over there, and it’s much better for my soul. But I’m glad for people like you that I found there. I’m glad for the many different voices I learned to hear there. Glad many of them are here too, so I can still be shaped by them.
I feel this. I'm glad you're finding some peace outside the Twitterverse!
This was very good and rings true. I’ve been off Twitter for the most part for a while. I feel less connected to the anger du jour, and it feels good.
Love this Rachel and so happy for you ! I wish the whole world could read your post because it rings true for so many! The older I get the more important the solitude in some part of my day has become the time I look forward to. I have never been on twitter or instagram , FB is overwhelming enough and I have moved away from reading everyday … I found it to be wasted time and not alot of substance most of the time. Some days I leave my phone upstairs and only carry it if I am leaving the house , if my kids really need me .. we still have our land line 😂
I can just see you , Evan, and Hilde enjoying your precious time together … you are a wise young woman Rachel 💕
I can relate to much of this with leaving Instagram. It’s so freeing to not have that constant “itch” to be on my phone and I’m able to be more involved in my real life.
This moved me so much and it's written so beautifully. I'm still on twitter but never used it much; I recently quit Instagram completely which was my main social platform, and my whole life got quieter. Thankful to you for talking about this. It's so quietly radical for Christians with any creative or intellectual bent to NOT heavily use social media, but I am finding I'm more healthy away from it
I miss you and Evan on social media. But I also understand completely what you are saying . Everyone fights over who is right. And they're not very Christlike in sharing their views.
I'm tired of it, too...I have friends there that I want to stay in touch with, but I'm seriously considering taking a break. Giving friends my email and phone # (For close friends) and just deleting the apps.
You and your kind spirit, insight, wisdom, smile, and the way you share Jesus are greatly missed. ❤️
I’m glad I can still keep up with you here.
I sure miss seeing you, and catching glimpses of your darling family, on Twitter. But there is no doubt that if something is that toxic for you, you must turn it off. Good for you for protecting your heart and soul and perspective. I appreciated your winsome words, as my Twitter feed is pretty closely cultivated to provide lots of encouragement and zero drama, and your absence is felt... But I am mostly glad you did what the Lord showed you to be best for your family!
I'm feeling this and trying to figure out exactly how to move forward. I definitely hit 40, and hit some type of wall. It didn't have much to do with my age I don't think, just the fact that I had about twenty years of inner things to examine, wash, mend, fold, sort, and potentially discard. I've been working on that for about a year, and I still have some work to do. I'm not sure social media is giving me as much slack as I need to do the work well.
Thank you for your thoughts. I, too, am processing my time on social media. I have to ask myself, is this the best use of my time?