That’s right, I did it.  I finally did it, and I am free.

Over the last three years, I have probably spent hundreds of hours keeping up with the lives of 267 people, most of wh0m I will never see in real life.  I am not sure why this has been so addictive, but it has.

I have come to care deeply about too many people and too many things, and it has interfered with my happiness.I’ve had too many thoughts and concerns about all of my Facebook friends, so many that they’ve cluttered my mind and kept me from myself and my own life.

The people who are a part of my real life will be able to contact me without Facebook.  Those people can follow my life through this blog and correspond through email. I haven’t abandoned anybody; I’ve just closed the door of constant contact and availability.  I’ve created distance–that distance we used to have before cellphones and internet and Facebook. That distance that I think it a natural and necessary thing sometimes.

Before technology, even before television and electricity, people knew how to entertain themselves and nurture real relationships.  They knew how to talk to people, how to make meals for people, how to do real things, how to discuss politics, how to make things, play instruments, tell jokes, play games.  They knew how to have a face-to-face conversation with a person and not have to look at their Blackberry twelve times.

People back then knew how to be a valuable part of a community, how to help others and how to accept help, how to make real food, how to put others and the community ahead of themselves.  They had real skills and valued real things that mattered.  Real things like hard work, faithfulness, honesty, and family.  Those are things I value, and I want my life and how I spend my time to reflect that.

So here’s to quitting Facebook, and having space in my mind for new adventures.