Facebook breakup!

I am shutting down my Facebook. It's decided. After hemming and hawing about it for several months, I am going to follow through on this.

There are several reasons why I am closing my account.

1.) I am a person who highly values meaningful, organic, quality relationships. My needs as an individual in the realm of people isn't satisfied but rather aggravated by Facebook. I desire to be in that photo with a friend, drinking a cup of coffee at that coffee shop tagged in your status update or sharing that laugh instead of 'lol-ing' online.

So how am I going to accomplish this in a cyber age, long-distance relationship friendship world I live in?

I want to become more intentional about my interactions with people. So instead of sending a Facebook message on your birthday, I want to go to the store, buy a card and send it to you. I also want to fill my time with other things than screens, so I am going to try to know and love my neighbors more, do meaningful things for the people around me and play with my dog if there is absolutely nothing else to do -- which I am sure she'll appreciate.

2.) I want to be more creative than status updates and uploading photos. As a kid, I always enjoyed going through the family albums. There is nothing like a photograph to bring back memories and nostalgia. My first personal goal is to start these for my family. Take those online photos and put them in an album that I and my family can enjoy.

In an effort to be creative in my writing as well as not completely sever my long-distance friendships, I will post weekly on my blog site. So instead of keeping me on your Facebook friends list, you can favorite my blog site and intentionally check me out. This is a commitment on both of our parts. I want to keep you informed and involved in my life wherever you are by writing posts or uploading a photo and you can express intentionality by visiting my blog -- which is a bit harder than checking me out with your other 200+ Facebook friends over your morning coffee.

Hopefully this new 'relationship' will be more meaningful for both of us.

3.) I want to simplify.

4.) I don't want to learn about your life electronically. Don't be afraid - come visit, let's set up a Skype chat or phone call or send me a text message.

So stay tuned! First blog post coming Sunday, August 30th!