I’ve deactivated my Facebook account. The unnecessarily transparent voyeurism into the lives of those I love too often brings undesired proximity to the personal and private drama of the lives of those I care about but have no need of the knowledge of issues that should, in my humble and decidedly personal opinion, remain within the privacy of the immediate family.
This is not a criticism, just, I suppose, a quirky outgrowth of the decades long arms length physical separation I’ve had from my family which allows for brief moments of time together but prevents allowing, as my dad so often colorfully and eloquently says, the fish to stink. Sadly, facebook has become an unwitting means of allowing “stinking fish” to invade my neat little life where I’ve constructed a perspective I’m as yet unwilling to let go and as I grow older seem to cling to more dearly.
I must admit, facebook has allowed me to see a number of the personal dynamics in play that I’ve long suspected, but having left home so early, had little personal experience to substantiate. It has also taught me how important it is to be cautious in relationship dynamics. It’s not just my family and friends on facebook, I also have been observing such things first hand locally.
That said, perhaps it’s more me than others. Perhaps I’ve lived too sheltered a life, uncluttered with the messiness of children and difficult experiences thrown at others. Perhaps that makes me less sympathetic or understanding of the difficulties faced by others as I live my sheltered life of self-imposed semi-seclusion. Aw well, so much for selfish introspection.
No doubt few will take notice of my demise and fewer still will make effort to inquire where I’ve gone. That is simply the nature of our modern world made up of superficial “friendships.” But honestly, that is not new to the digital world. I experienced that superficiality long before facebook was a gleam in the eye of it’s founders.
Others may well come to the conclusion that I’ve made errant decisions in my life that draw me to seclusion from old relationships. I find no discomfort in that misconception, only solace that I must and will follow the direction I know to be right for me at this time.
Perhaps I will be a bit more productive without the distraction of lives lived on a world wide stage. While I still believe that, as GK Chesterton said, “we are all in the same boat on a stormy sea and we owe each other a terrible loyalty,” I guess in this part of that vast ocean I’ve decided to “bail out.”
