On December 1st, I took all social media off my phone.  I’d been thinking about doing it for a while, but it felt so … permanent? … that I kept putting it off.  I mean, how was I going to waste an inordinate amount of time on a daily basis without social media?

It seemed unfathomable to be unable to scroll through my Facebook feed on an hourly basis.

And the first few days were weird.  Not going to lie about that.  For no apparent reason I would grab my phone at work, just to realize that Facebook and Instagram were no longer there.

And even in the few days that I’ve been social media free (on my phone — let’s not get too crazy too fast!) I’ve been amazed at how productive and efficient I am.  And how many things I’ve done instead  of wasting time scrolling through various feeds.  I’ve read books (really good ones, that make me glad I’m reading instead of scrolling), and instead of just thinking about blogging, I’ve actually blogged.

Mostly about nothing — but that’s sort of beside the point.

I had a friend in college who introduced me to a book about reconnecting with your inner artist (for the life of me, I cannot remember the title but when I find it, I will come back and edit this post!).  The one thing I remember vividly (among ‘self dates to the arts’ and other suggestions I actually loved) was the idea of writing three full pages in a journal every night without stopping.  It wasn’t even about what you wrote but the act of writing every night — just getting your thoughts on a piece of paper.

Stephen King says something sort of similar in his book On Writing.   Which is an incredible book, by the way.  He basically says — if you want to write, you need to write every day.  No excuses..  Every day.

That’s sort of my M.O. with this blog right now.  Just getting my thoughts on paper on a regular basis — my thoughts and ideas and contemplations.  They aren’t incredibly original or particularly creative.  But I love to write — it feels like a creative release.  And someday (ah dreams) I would love to write something significant enough to be published.  But writing is a skill — like pitching or catching or batting.  You can have talent, but if you don’t practice and hone your skills, you do yourself a disservice.

Right now my beautiful puppy has rested her head on my right arm — which would be completely adorable, were I not typing.  White Christmas  is on the TV. I am snuggled in bed in my new favorite sweatshirt, my eyelids drooping with sleep.

And I’m also rambling on my blog.

But, more to the point, I AM rambling on my blog.  Which is better than spending 45 minutes scrolling and ‘liking.’  So I can’t complain.

xo