1 -The world did not collapse in my absence.
I know, right? Hard to imagine, but it just. kept. spinning. There were a few really important things I needed to know about like missing Nigerian women, the precarious political process of eastern Ukraine, and - of course - Eurovision. But, it turns out, there is a program on the TV every night called 'The News' that tends to cover the bigger stories, and I don't have to share it in order to ensure good luck comes my way. And as for Eurovision - well, people seem to be talking mostly about two acts: the bearded lady and the Polish churners. I'll give you both. First, this year's winner:
And, purely in the interest of balance, the Polish entry:
2 - The urge to 'share' was strong.
It was odd, in a self-aware kind of way, to notice how much I wanted to take a photo of a moment and post it for everyone to see. Last night, after being up half the night with my wife the night before, our middle child fell asleep on the couch at about 6pm. I was getting pudding ("dessert" for all my American friends) for everyone after a nice chicken dinner. I went into the lounge ("living room") to see who wanted some, and the poor thing was sparked out, sucking her thumb and buried snuggly under a pile of pillows and blankets. My first instinct was to take a photo and to try to think of some witty remark for Facebook: 'How cute is THIS?' or 'All that delightful screaming must of worn the poor cherub out!' I even went to grab my phone. But then, I thought: She's been an over-tired grumpy nightmare all day, what if the flash wakes it up?! THEN, I thought, actually, this one's just for us. I walked upstairs, got my wife and we stared at the snoozing Tazmanian devil in stunned silence. So instead of a picture of my own sleeping beauty, you can watch this dog having a dream.
3 - I did actually miss things.
Mother's Day in the US? Who knew! Facebook birthdays? Tons of them! Draft results? Who cares! Missed them all. Sorry! But, then again, I think that it's maybe become too easy to type 'Happy Birthday' to a long-lost friend - I've even been guilty of copying and pasting in on several Walls if more than one friend had a birthday on the same day. Is that the spirit of it all? I mean sure, it's nice to be acknowledged, but there is no personal touch to that - no real sense of celebration. So I'm sorry if I missed your birthday this year, but if I only started telling you 'happy birthday' after we became Facebook friends, I may very well miss it again next year.
One weekend in, I think my absence from out-of-hours Social Media hasn't had as much of an effect on the world as it has on me. Which probably should tell me something about how I choose to spend my free time, and who (or really 'what') I spend it with.
