Today I deactivated my Facebook account. I should have done it a month ago before Thanksgiving or perhaps even earlier, when the USA election was in full swing and while Brexit was turning Facebook blue. The reason for finally closing my Facebook account down today is due to the lead up to “Christmas.”
This year I simply do not have the patience to scroll through hundreds of cute kitties wrapped in shiny Christmas wrapping paper. Nor could I stomach more Christmas recipes for mince pies, toffee tarts or chocolate logs filled with dollops of almond cream.
I cannot no longer “like” people’s family photos that simply holds no meaning for me. “Happy Holidays” is not something that appeals either and although I cannot stop the tinsel, trash and twinkling stars, I can switch it off.
The actual moment I ached to deactivate my Facebook page came when a “friend” posted the Tel. number of a suicide charity, just in case someone felt like they wanted a permanent out. And this was during the last days of November – a full month before Christmas day!
Time to tone down Christmas. Of course businesses are not going to do it. They will continue to flog Christmas in July, then switch to high-gear on “Black Friday” with an extra commercial push on “Cyber Monday.” I mean there is no end to the greed!
In the past year we have seen slogans like “Never Trump” or “Never Clinton.” Why not add a new slogan, one that will not divide us but might actually be helpful. Why not create a new slogan, something like @SayNoToSanta. I think it’s a great idea! We should broadcast it all over the Western hemisphere, to really get the message across that we want our Holy, Christmas back! No more Happy Holidays with a huge dose of P.C.,together with over consumption and an overdrawn account that takes another year to pay off.
I leave you with a special thought for Christmas – The True Christmas
“Are you willing to stoop down and consider the needs and desires of little children; to remember the weaknesses and loneliness of people who are growing old; to stop asking how much your friends love you, and to ask yourself if you love them enough; to bear in mind the things that other people have to bear on their hearts; to trim your Christmas lamp so that it will give more light and less smoke, and to carry it in front so that your shadow will fall behind you; to make a grave for your ugly thoughts and a garden for your kindly feelings, with the gate open? Are you willing to do these things for a day? Then you are ready to keep Christmas!” -Henry Van Dyke
Children Of Light 
wonderful action & aspiration
to focus on what
really matters 🙂
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Oh, Christmas one more time around! i know your feelings well , the older I get the least I seem to care about Holidays.
Commercialization of the Holidays it’s shameless, at the mall near to my coffee place, where I meet with friends to talk books, they put a huge tree up, days before Halloween!
Never have joined FB afraid of what you describe, I got a Twitter acct. that a friend assure me it was necessary to promote my blog, it turn not to be the case, hardly anybody ever click the link to my blog, despite my success in Twitter, I am weary now of dealing with it…
Although through Twitter and blogging I had met wonderful people, with who I carry now an old fashion epistolary friendship, mainly through emails, which in essence it’s all I care, to talk to someone who has a well inform, and interesting thing to say, not mindless chit chat,like what you describe:”of cute kitties wrapped in shiny Christmas wrapping paper.”.
Unfortunately blogs are limited by the subject theme of the post, and it’s not appropriate to discuss other interesting stuff, that deviates from the main issue, there is no rule who say so, however it’s doesn’t seem proper for everybody to read what you intend to say to a particular person, then having someone else coming to take part in it.
I realize everyone it’s on media for a, or particular reasons, diverse in nature, so it’s not possible to have our cake and eat it too..! 🙂
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Facebook gives one burn out.Re: kittens: One kitty cat looks pretty much like the hundred that will follow on your news feed. The same with dogs and pictures of babies etc. The one thing Facebook does not have is real conversation. Blogs are rarely read because reading takes concentration. There is not a high quality of concentration on Facebook now. The whole idea of this that sort of forum is to kill concentration. imho Users are swept from one post to another in a few seconds, to the point that even a thumbs up is too much trouble. Thanks for your kind comment. eve 🙂
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Yes, it’s no different in twitter,and endless parade of cats, and pets, and now and then something more gruesome like pornography!
Unfortunately in blogging now there is a tendency for many in using their blog as a twitter acct. publishing numerous post through the day with the first thing that comes to their mind, with an endless chain of post of little, or no relevance whatsoever that clutter my Reader page and make hard to find anything of real interest.through it, but at least you can choose themes.
In any case social networks had become an unpleasant chore, polluted by all kinds of aberrant behaviors where some people choose to abuse their freedom of expression on us, to the point of making us quit by turning it off.
Thank you for your answer Eve. 🙂
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Love your reasons for de-activating your account. Will you re-activate after the holidays?
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Hoping to stay away until my concentration improves.
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Although I see both the good and bad in Facebook I say well done for taking control of it as you want. If I don’t visit my Facebook account for a while it starts getting really needy and bossy emailing me all kinds of notifications saying I am missing this or that (you can control the notifications of course in the deep settings). Social media is shaping our world if we are not careful and we need to come off it and ignore even if only once in a while.
As for Christmas – I do love Christmas but refuse to have anything to do with it until December! It’s too commercial…but I do love the time with friends and family.
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Thanks for your input Alex. It is nice to hear from you. I hope you have a joyful time with your friends and family this Christmas. My rant is more about the ever increasing and relentless buying of stuff, which really has turned into a insatiable frenzy.John Lewis had their christmas decorations up for sale during August this year, when summer flowers were still in bloom. lol best eve.
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I completely agree with you. My favourite memories of Christmas from childhood have nothing to do with presents. In fact I can barely remember any presents but I nostalgically remember the family rituals, the decorations, being dragged to church, our Boxing Day parties and so on. Nothing to do with commercialism or money but enjoying yourself with friends and family and trying to remember the meaning of Christmas, even if we are agnostic. Hopefully my children will feel the same way when they look back.
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be sad to see you go Eve.
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There became in the end no reason to stay. There was no real conversation and loads of stuff, I did not want to see or speak on. thanks Himmy.
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I put my facebook down a long time ago Eve. I originally kept if for keeping in contact with friends…but it soon became apparent with the drowning of my friends by all the ‘extra’s’ that it was just an advertisers hall of delight with an insatiable desire to drown its very ‘captive’ audience. I would turn ten things off, to soon be replaced by twenty more.
And the one that finally got me to switch it off was, I had answered a friends question on facebook, went out to lunch, came back to find a reply….35 feet down the page, buried in so much garbage that I was stunned. I then told everyone if they wish to speak to me, call me…for I was no longer captive to irrelevancy 🙂
Well done! 😀
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It was a good idea to begin with but in the end, Facebook went the way of all forums, a bit nasty. People get bored. It was useful for photography and useful for learning certain facts. Although when we speak of “friends!” – I would not call my “facebook friends,” true friends. Most in my experiences were nice enouogh, but I had a few on my friend’s list that I would not have wanted to meet in real life. What upset me most this year besides the Christmas posts, were pictures of dead deer lying in a deep pool of blood. In one photo a boy of about 12, held his gun up high over a dead baby deer he had shot. The person posting the picture, obviously was proud of her grandson’s achievement. I simply felt sick. Oh well. Thanks for your learned comment. Eve
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It’s definitely a “lets get real” holiday season. I feel it too 💛
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Yes, but what to do? We simply need an alternative to this commercial game called “Holiday Season.” How can people fall for it year after year? Most people I know, despair of Christmas and can’t wait for it to be over. That is a real shame eh? eve
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You have a valid point Eve. 💛Let us all start with our own alternative and make it work for us, rather than being drawn in to the external chaos and commercialism. It may mean letting go of certain people who share differing views, as well as addressing our own “conditioning of the season.” xo
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Years ago, I read the wonderful story of Padre Pio – the great healer and saint of our time. I think I will, this Christmas, buy photos of him, and place them in our home. A good start.. Have you read his life story? It makes a great read, very inspiring.. Eve with thanks. x
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💝
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😉
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