I'm Leaving Social Media
/POST FROM SEPTEMBER 2022โฆa final goodbye to social media.
Happy Fall, and also, goodbye friends! ๐ Ready for all the Fall changes, which leads me to share this big newsโฆ
Maybe itโs that my 40th is fast approaching and things that used to be important just arenโt anymore, maybe itโs that my kids are growing fast, or that this has been a season with lots of transition.
Maybe itโs that the last few years have put a lot of things - including whatโs shared online - into perspective.
Itโs also that I feel the intensity of the spiritual battle around us, and I want to lean in and be more present with Jesus than everโฆ
or maybe itโs that my heart just isnโt totally in it anymore.
โฆbut I am signing off and saying goodbye to social media. ๐
Yep, Ive been known to take a break every now and then. And I know people get made fun of for announcing said breaks.
But for the sweet part of this community I have built here for the last decadeโฆI wanted yโall to know.
Because this is goodbye from here. ๐
When I started blogging years ago, it was so different.
Being online was different, the community was different, my desire to share so openly was different, my family and time to spend online was different!
So itโs come time.
Iโm making this big change (along with my hair color apparently ๐๐ผโโ๏ธ๐๐ปโโ๏ธ)โฆand putting these things away, for I donโt know how long. Possibly and most likely for good. ๐
A few things:
I still have my oils business and may continue to share @simpleoilylife and also @oklahomaessentialoils . ๐ฟ (and will still use my FB groups for my team)
I will blog every now and then, you can give your email here to stay connected! ๐
I will also share tips and sales and such, on my business website: www.simpleoilylife.com โจ
๐
Yโall are special and Iโm grateful for what this space has meant to me over the years, and for the connection God has provided here!! Ill miss you. ๐ฅน
Peaceโฆand big, big blessings over each of you!!! ๐๐ป
POST FROM JANUARY 2021, TAKING A THREE MONTH BREAK:
I have made a big decision for me, that feels like a big change, but one I feel so peaceful about! After many years of being on social media (insta and FB), I am signing off!
Several reasons why I am leaving my personal social media:
First, There has been a shift in me that I donโt totally have explanation for yet. A shift in being comfortable about how much of my life I share.
Of course privacy/big tech overreach is part of that. But even more so is the privacy of my heart, home and family that I am feeling more protective over lately.
Obviously Iโve never shied away from sharing vulnerable or hard things. Iโve always shared what I felt called to share.
Iโve never regretted anything.
But something in my heart is changing. Possibly having to do with the next reason...
Second, I feel more and more that the close circle of friends I have and do life with - whether in person or online/phone if they arenโt local - is where I need to be more intentional.
Iโve always loved CONNECTION. Itโs something I love to do. Connect with others, and connect people to other people. Heck, even my business group for oils is called โConnectโ! Itโs something I have always valued online. I made some of my besties through blogging and Twitter!
Blame it on getting older or feeling like my circle of people is pretty amazing and fulfilling or whatever - but those closer circles is where I really want to pour more of myself into vs a few hundred or thousand people who donโt really know me that well.
If freeing up mind or emotional energy (or physical energy of my phone!) can give me more space for more intimate connections...then I want that.
Being more intentional in relationship is a big part of this decision.
And while yes, I loooove catching up on random peopleโs lives and knowing how many kids they have now and how their motherhood is going etc,
I am sensing a pull toward my closer โvillageโ to be where I pour into!
Third, is something God has been asking of me for a while now: to be MINDFUL.
Mindful of everything. I walk through a looooot of life being mindless aka going through the motions and doing what I need to do because I feel overwhelmed and just want to get it done almost like a run on sentence that should have stops and rests and resets but thereโs just โso much to doโ that not taking the time to think very hard is what happens. And let me tell you this from experience: mindlessness and thoughtlessness does not bear good fruit.
How does this apply to social media? For me - and maybe for others - I cannot be totally mindful of everything I actually NEED to do if I am either a. Thinking about the next thing I could post, or b. Taking pictures of what Iโm doing rather than being mindful of the actual DOING. Does that even make sense? Lol. If not thatโs ok.
God has had me going through a stripping away of things that clutter my mind. There are lots of those things. Things that consume my brain and emotions that hinder my purpose.
And lately, I have seen that social media is one of those things. A hindrance.
It hasnโt always been. And if I come back it may not be later. But for now - it needs to be taken away so my mind can be free to function better at more important things!
Fourth and most important - my full attention and presence are needed in more pressing places. My presence cannot be fully there with my kids if I am grabbing my phone constantly to take a picture or post a story.
This may sound harsh, but we can tell ourselves all we want to that we are fully present with our kids ... but Iโd challenge that by saying if you have a phone in your hands the majority of the time you are with you kids...you are not fully present.
My most important connection, mindfulness, time, and presence-needed role in life is to my family. And my home. And my own heart.
So if getting off of social media allows space for that? Iโm ready. No amount of likes or views or comments can measure up to the fruit of being fully present with the souls I have been given to raise.
I had a brief fear that this would affect my life somehow. Affect my business. Affect my worth.
But then I really looked in my heart and battled those fears with truth. And I won.
Because if I truly am giving this up - for a time or for good - for the reasons I feel led to ....
Then I will away from this with MORE purpose, more business growth, deeper connection, more mindfulness, more presence, and a better view of my worth apart from it.
It literally baffles my mind that so many of us have let little squares and words and pictures dictate how we feel or what we do. But for so many of us it has. But Iโm calling BS on myself when I think how important sharing online is. For me, for now , itโs just not anymore.
Being super honest with myself and my needs and my desires for my life is something I am finally doing at age 38. And Iโm super excited about it.
Iโve rambled enough and hope I made sense, so Iโll close this out.
Do I know how long Iโm getting off the socials?
The Lord told me at least three months so Iโm starting there.
Am I keeping my business groups?
Yes. Thatโs actually part of my intentionality reasons. To connect more there vs on my personal pages.
Am I going to miss it?
Yes and no.
No for the reasons I talked about.
Yes because of people. Yโall.
I sincerely love talking to and seeing peoples lives. People I wouldnโt normally see or talk to regularly. Itโs the sweet part of social media. Iโll miss that. Miss yโall.
So, I am off of posting on my personal feeds as of January 1, 2021.
Iโm literally logging out/deleting the apps of my phone until April 1 at least.
I WILL blog here and there. I 100% still feel led to share my heart on certain things. To share parts of our lives. To share stories of my journey as the Lord leads. But with more intentionality and purpose and thought vs throwing up a post every day just to post.
Please still connect with me if you want to.
About anything.
Life. This. Oils. Whatever.
You can find me here on my blog.
I definitely plan to still put my heart into words here in this more intentional/intimate space!
You can email me:
You can text me about oils or business:
405-349-6260 (This is my business line, not personal)
Thanks for listening. For reading.
Now, and for the last many years or however long you have followed.
Iโm by no means an โinfluencerโ.
But I have for sure built a a sweet little community here that I will miss on the daily.
Until next time on social media, blessings and goodness and PEACE to you, my friends.