First and foremost, I must apologize for my lack of presence here.  I made a promise to myself and my readers – months ago – about creating regular posts again.  I was unable to keep that promise.  I am hoping to be better at this now that life seems to have become a bit more steady.

Yesterday evening I finished my graduate school homework early and therefore have more time this weekend to enjoy myself, and I am looking forward to the – hopefully – relaxing days ahead.  The first thing I did when I finished my work yesterday was to brew myself a cup of green tea.  As I did, I knew I had to return to cornsilk doll.  I have schemed and hatched many new revelations since I last posted here, and I am excited to tell you about this time-saving one: deleting my Facebook app off of my iPhone.

I am one of the masses when it comes to an unhealthy attachment to my electronic devices – especially my cell phone.  It comes with me to work, it helps me navigate my commutes, entertains me on my off-time, and connects me with friends and family.  I have been in a steady relationship with Facebook, that social media monster we all know and love, for 11 years now.  Eleven years.  The time really does fly by!  Once, I used Facebook to connect and chat with friends and family.  However, this trusty companion has slowly morphed over the years to become a brain-fogging, time-consuming, information-twisting, Buzzfeed-loving mess.  Yet, I was anxious to disconnect my cell phone from that ever-growing stew pot of information and, sadly, misinformation.  

I’m here to tell you that I successfully went cold-turkey.  I simply deleted the Facebook app, and I haven’t turned back since.  I no longer feel the need to constantly be checking my social media for updates, crossing my fingers for likes, hoping for comments.  I am actively forcing myself to take part in life – especially out in public – rather than hide behind my cell phone, flipping through another non-article that hasn’t been fact-checked or housing multiple spelling errors.  

It is with a delightful weightlessness that I can tell you my life is more simple without that app.  What a difference it has made in my life.  In a world that is more and more transfixed with the screen, I am able to look up and drink in my surroundings.  This, simply because I removed an app from my phone.  

Decluttering my phone was anxiety-ridden; I won’t lie to you.  There is a “fear of missing out” that has become so prevalent these days that the simple act of deleting a social media app seemed like a make-or-break decision, at the time.  However, I am here to tell you that deleting the social media monster from my phone hasn’t put me “behind in the times”.  In fact, I successfully swapped Facebook’s news media for the more reliable BBC app (which I absolutely love).  It’s amazing how something that was formed under (assumedly) the best intentions – to connect people with each other – has now become warped in more ways than one.  

As you can see, my phone is love-worn.  It’s a device I use every day, and has the ability to provide information, connect me with friends and family however far away, or snap a picture of a fleeting moment with the kittens (now cats).  I am not trashing my phone entirely, only a single app, but it feels as though my beat-up old phone is brand new.  I no longer am using it to lust over what I do not have or wasn’t able to experience, but to glory in that which is important to me – speaking with my family and friends, taking pictures of beautiful moments, and following a news media outlet that does the research and takes pride in their work.  Deleting one app has had therapeutically simplistic benefits in my life.

I have deeply enjoyed reconnecting with my surroundings, everywhere that I go.  I no longer have my nose glued to my phone as I swipe through other peoples’ lives while I’m walking to-and-fro, eating lunch, grocery shopping…I am free to look up and around.  Disconnecting in this way has helped me reconnect in many other ways.  On my walks now, I no longer bring my phone but a small flower-pressing kit.  I no longer sit up in bed, straining my eyes in the dark while flipping through pictures of other peoples’ escapades.  I am free to wander the world as I like, unshackled by social media constraints (and don’t misunderstand me here, they are constraints on a simple, more thoughtful lifestyle), and it has been a healthy, beneficial, wonderful modification to my life.