Forty Facebook-free days in the wilderness; Ep 1

Like an ex -smoker rarely feels financially better off, I am scratching my head and wondering where the time I used to spend on Facebook actually came from? I used to spend hours a day checking statuses, reading notifications, writing  some status or other, responding to comments. My days, if anything, seem fuller now I am off the book of face. Perhaps, I might say, I have even less free time without it.

I called this experience, before embarking on it (in my head, not to any human ears), the cyberwild. I was compelled to spend 40 days with no Facebook connections and that felt, at the time, like a testing time ahead, a time of isolation and withdrawal for (partially, at least) prayer purposes. I think how I viewed this fast/experiment before I commenced it, was as a rather daunting challenge, although admittedly nowhere in the vicinity of the sort of trial awaiting Jesus in the Judaean desert. The reality was far more sedate and mediocre but, like any addict when threatened with the withholding of their favoured substance, I was rather panicked at the thought of doing without. Always the sign of the addict. Deep down, however, I knew it could be a good thing.

I think I had been aware, for some serious time, although I kidded myself to the contrary, that, to a certain extent, Facebook was controlling me, and not the other way round. Or rather, my unchecked appetite for Facebook was controlling me. I had made many excuses in my head as to why not to examine the affect of this habit in any depth but the primary reason is that, like the time that I did not want to draw back the dressing after putting my hand through a window, I knew I would not like what I saw. And so, after God eventually led me to a place of grace, where I felt able to challenge the mighty Facebook for the supremacy of my main affection, I decided that it was time that the Goliath created by Zuckerberg, took a pebble to the head.  Finally I was going to follow the advice I saw on Axl Rose's T-shirt all those years ago that urged us to 'kill your idols'. Yes, hands up, it was an idol and, as an idol, at least, it needed to die.

At first I was going to attempt to keep a diary style blog of my withdrawal symptoms, day by day but I think that moment has well and truly passed. Instead I am going to write a short series of blogs based on my facebook-free phase. I am just over a third of the way through my experience now and all seems to be going well.  There will be a post to follow in the near future, God willing.