Off the Grid!

So I did it! The unspeakable... I quit Facebook!

 

What started out as a “I am sick of the privacy issues” idea turned out to be quite interesting. It turns out, yeah I do like to post meaningful, educative, let’s-get-rid of-bigotry posts and my friends appreciate it! But the fact is I do not care that you woke up and had a cup of coffee. If you really were so miserable in the morning how did you manage to write a status update?

Don’t get me wrong, I am not (or actually did not start out) trying to make a political statement. I just got tired of all the nonsense. Don’t get me wrong, there are also great things about Facebook such as keeping in touch with people I have not seen in years. But is it really keeping up? Or is it just stalking to see what they post on Facebook? I don’t actually talk to all of these people and much less send them a card on their birthday or the holidays. I figured if I really want to stay in contact I and they will find a way. I am trying to stay in contact more with people and so thus getting rid of Facebook seemed to make sense.

On the plus side, I will be able to keep up with my blog instead of just posting what others have to say.

But Facebook is not all I am changing; I am changing the way I live. For those people who know me, they know I try to live a conscious life. Equality and social justice for all people are  huge priorities of mine. I can't help but live a life thinking how my actions affect those around me. Not just your typical "be nice to others around you", but how does every one of your actions affect the world? This includes your purchasing habits. How do your consumer urges and purchases impoverish and make life unbearable for others? How do your actions affect the destruction of the environment? Did you know that every single water bottle that you throw away has enough plastic to contaminate every single ocean in the world? So trying to stay true to myself I have decided I will not be a consumer as much as possible. This includes not buying anything from a department store, such as clothes and the like. How will I survive you may ask? Pretty simple actually. There are many second hand stores and thrift shops that have really cute trendy and lightly worn stuff. I also trade my clothes all the time with frineds and sisters. And it may come as a surprise but I hate to go shopping! I would rather go in and get out! This may seem like something really hard for some people, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I have been doing this pretty much my whole life. Growing up we did not have a lot. And very seldom did we buy new clothes and the like. I spoke to my mom and my sister about what I am doing and they were like "oh ok." So all I am doing now is taking charge of my consumer habits and trying to make this a better world. I have more that I am doing, but that will wait for another post!