Quit the Quiet

I'm horrified at how long it's been since I posted a blog entry. Straight From The Curls used to be my safe place. I would find solace in my writing. I would come here to de-stress and share little pieces of my life with you. And for the past few months it's been impossible to spare a few moments to just breathe and let my thoughts process.

I don't like how things are at the moment, so rest assured that one of my resolutions for the coming year will be to find my way back to Straight From The Curls on a more frequent basis. 2011 will go down in history as one of the most tumultuous years of my life. There have been health scares, career ups and downs, utter confusion about life choices, and moments when I've truly felt alone in this big world. Perhaps it sounds a bit dramatic, but I can say with certainty that I am coming out of a messy mid-twenties crisis — partially of my own making, and partially the result of external factors.

On the plus side, this year also acknowledged a couple of positive firsts in terms of my career — editing my first nationally produced magazine and a monthly stint as a health columnist. Two things that I only dreamed about a couple of years back. It's been a tough year, but I got what I asked for, so I've been lucky.

I'm making a few changes in 2012. It's funny how people get so introspective at this time of the year, huh? For one thing, I've been reducing my lists on social media. I think it's great that 'Sally' from elementary school wants to become friends on Facebook, but if the only reason she's adding me is to troll around my profile and not say a word, then chances are, Sally, I'm going to delete you asap.

Isn't it funny? Did you ever think in, say... 2002, that this would even be a problem 10 years down the road? About someone from your past who you've made no efforts to stay in touch with, all of a sudden resurfacing, and with the click of a few buttons goes on to find out about what you've been up to since your grade eight graduation? Not cool.

Life certainly has changed a lot in the past decade. And it's weird, but I think more and more people are remaining static instead of changing along with the ebbs and flows of life. We're spending way too much time in front of a computer screen, watching other people live their lives, instead of actually making our own memories. Adding chapters to our own lives.

I know that for now, I won't be able to fully disconnect from social media. It's part of my job, and it's part of how I share my work. In fact, as soon as I publish this post, it will appear on my Twitter and Facebook feeds. But I'm hoping I can change the way I use social media. I'm hoping that it's something I can turn to when I need it, as opposed to logging on out of habit. Someone referred to it as social media snacking.

Definitely need to cut back on the social media snacks.

xo

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