good stuff Deidre, this is on my mind more too since the recent birth of my son...
I have no social media side from Substack, but I think I need to delete the app from my phone for a while... it's taking too much of my attention away from God, my family, my very life
I'm taking this piece as a further encouragement from the Lord in that direction
Yes. I understand—I feel the same way; it's so easy to just "sneak on" for a second and then look up minutes later and realize that more time has gone by than you meant.
And my experience with having babies has been that I've spent more time on my phone in those newborn seasons, and less time with real, actual humans. I'm cheering you on as you spend more time with the people in your physical life.
Beautiful! In my case, I really feel like I know better, it's just a matter of DOING better. Instagram will never scratch that itch for community, belonging, or validation, and yet its pull is so seductive.
Deidre, I’m glad we had a brief encounter in Minneapolis while waiting for the plane to Portland, ME. I appreciate your work, and especially this piece on worthless things. Be well.
Deidre, love all this. I think we can cultivate village life by what God said and turn away from worthless things. Perhaps a daily posture I would say. I do feel this tension of the online world and the in person world. God pressed on me that I have community right here in my own town that I haven't explored. So I have intentionally looking for ways to be a part of my community. Part of it was an excuse oh I am new here. Well I have been here since 2017 now. Or I don't know anyone because I was always at work on a film stage with people from out of town. Well I have been off a year. So in that year I have made coffee dates, invited the neighbors over, booked a workshop at the Library and a book fair. Plus my husband have been taking road trips to stay at friends home. It feels lovely and like you write a lot like how life use to be with phones on the wall. Bless you friend.
Love this, Deidre. And sooo true. I can't help but think part of the reason we shy away from face-to-face friendships and lean towards online community is our inability to overcome differences with one another.
With social media, everyone's opinions on EVERYTHING are aired for the world to see. We suddenly know what that one gal from church thinks about politics, parenting, wellness, and five other hot-button topics without ever having a conversation with her. That AND we are more uncomfortable than ever with the idea of overcoming differences to focus on the far greater number of things we actually have in common with most other humans.
I also think we lean *towards* the comfort of sameness. The big wide web has opened up the ability to find like-minded friends across the globe. I groaned about this once to Julia McMullen. "Ugh! You're so cool why can't I find anyone like you in the same city as me?!" But have I tried? Yay for technology and the genuine connections that can come from it when one is intentional. But also BOOOO that it distracts us from the people who live on our street, go to the same park as us, or sit one row over at church.
good stuff Deidre, this is on my mind more too since the recent birth of my son...
I have no social media side from Substack, but I think I need to delete the app from my phone for a while... it's taking too much of my attention away from God, my family, my very life
I'm taking this piece as a further encouragement from the Lord in that direction
Yes. I understand—I feel the same way; it's so easy to just "sneak on" for a second and then look up minutes later and realize that more time has gone by than you meant.
And my experience with having babies has been that I've spent more time on my phone in those newborn seasons, and less time with real, actual humans. I'm cheering you on as you spend more time with the people in your physical life.
( and congratulations on the birth of your son! 😍)
So good! I think about this often... how I spend my time.
Oh, me too. Sometimes I get lost in the digital world, only to look up and have that sinking feeling that I've wasted some perfectly good life.
Beautiful! In my case, I really feel like I know better, it's just a matter of DOING better. Instagram will never scratch that itch for community, belonging, or validation, and yet its pull is so seductive.
Yes, yes, yes.
Deidre, I’m glad we had a brief encounter in Minneapolis while waiting for the plane to Portland, ME. I appreciate your work, and especially this piece on worthless things. Be well.
Gary, I am SO glad to hear from you! Thanks for being here, and for dropping a note of encouragement.
Deidre, love all this. I think we can cultivate village life by what God said and turn away from worthless things. Perhaps a daily posture I would say. I do feel this tension of the online world and the in person world. God pressed on me that I have community right here in my own town that I haven't explored. So I have intentionally looking for ways to be a part of my community. Part of it was an excuse oh I am new here. Well I have been here since 2017 now. Or I don't know anyone because I was always at work on a film stage with people from out of town. Well I have been off a year. So in that year I have made coffee dates, invited the neighbors over, booked a workshop at the Library and a book fair. Plus my husband have been taking road trips to stay at friends home. It feels lovely and like you write a lot like how life use to be with phones on the wall. Bless you friend.
Love this, Deidre. And sooo true. I can't help but think part of the reason we shy away from face-to-face friendships and lean towards online community is our inability to overcome differences with one another.
With social media, everyone's opinions on EVERYTHING are aired for the world to see. We suddenly know what that one gal from church thinks about politics, parenting, wellness, and five other hot-button topics without ever having a conversation with her. That AND we are more uncomfortable than ever with the idea of overcoming differences to focus on the far greater number of things we actually have in common with most other humans.
I also think we lean *towards* the comfort of sameness. The big wide web has opened up the ability to find like-minded friends across the globe. I groaned about this once to Julia McMullen. "Ugh! You're so cool why can't I find anyone like you in the same city as me?!" But have I tried? Yay for technology and the genuine connections that can come from it when one is intentional. But also BOOOO that it distracts us from the people who live on our street, go to the same park as us, or sit one row over at church.