Tag Archives: instagram

Nov29

Keep In Touch

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Keep In Touch

You still do Facebook? I don’t have the time. Several of my friends say that to me. But here’s why I do find the time. And you’d be surprised at how little time it takes. It isn’t necessary to become hopelessly addicted.

Every morning I enjoy looking at my memories. My nomadic lifestyle has resulted in me living in many places with many different people in all three countries — Mexico, USA and Canada. Facebook also reminds me of my friends’ birthdays. I check my notifications but do not click on most of them. Total time so far less than 5 minutes.

I belong to four writing groups. Writers in Mexico I seldom visit, Writers Forum has interesting info on everything from grammar to publishing, Women Writers is similar to Writers Forum but is a much smaller group and is all women, and I just joined NotNaNoWriMo where I hope to play a more interactive role. The time I spend in these groups varies anywhere from 1 to 10 minutes a day.

I DO NOT SCROLL. My friends know that if there’s something they really want me to know about then Messenger is the way to go. Of course there are exceptions such as certain holidays and events.

I post the link to my blogs on Facebook. That takes seconds.

I don’t leave Facebook or Messenger open in the background when I’m on other screens.

That is how I do Facebook.

I removed myself from Twitter long before it became X. And I don’t look at Instagram.

However I can now be found at @lovetowrite23.bsky.social. I follow a handful of people, mostly writers. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with this yet, but I’ll give it a try.

I kept my American phone number this year so instead of just leaving voicemails my friends call me back too. And of course we text all the time. Unfortunately the Canadians still get voicemails as they don’t have a long distance plan to Mexico or the USA.

That’s how I keep in touch.

Mar18

Destress

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Destress

In the course I’m taking, we have now gone from recognizing habits to stress management. And that is a topic that I’m sure everyone needs help with in their lives right now. But first I’ll digress to the habit that I decided to deal with in this course.

Months ago I decided that I was spending too much time on social media. I stopped scrolling. Next I started unfollowing friends. When I go on Facebook I check out the expat and travel groups I belong to. I check out the writers groups. I tell friends that they need to DM me if they post anything important as I don’t scroll. And I’m now at a point where I follow only a handful of the six hundred friends I have on Facebook. I also dissed Instagram and Twitter long ago.

But the habit I’m focusing on now is cutting back and watching the news online. Talk about stress! Is there anything going on in this world right now that comes close to resembling positivity? Between the wars going on, the politics, the food recalls and the crazy weather………that’s a real cocktail for stress. But the big one for me right now is Boeing.

Door plugs, blown out tires, planes freezing in midair, cracked windshields, missing panels………I can hardly wait to board that flight back home in two weeks! I’ve almost forgotten the days when I used to enjoy flying. Now it’s just the most efficient way to get from point A to point B and it is far from enjoyable.

This is my new strategy. I check my newsfeeds in my email every morning. And when I’m online, as tempting as it is to click on that little news button, I’m limiting that as well. And I’m only reading the headlines. If it’s another article about a plane with a malfunction or an emergency landing for sure I’m going to ignore it. I’m determined to keep my cortisol levels down.

Of course watching the movies on Lifetime may help my Spanish but probably increases that cortisol level. The movies are primarily labelled as thrillers and my Spanish vocabulary now includes words such as stalking, harassing, kidnapping, hostages, nightmares, killers and sexual assault that tend to show up in daily newscasts around the globe but that I hope will never be a part of my own daily life.

Time to meditate. Peaceful. Tranquil. Calming. Think I’ll envision an ocean and billowy clouds today.

Feb15

Let’s Talk Happy

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Let’s Talk Happy

I tried something new in 2023 that had been highly recommended in a course I took last fall. And the result is exactly as the prof predicted it would be. My happiness level has increased.

Not that I wasn’t happy to begin with. It doesn’t matter how happy you are with your life, there is always room for improvement. So I tried this and I’m going to share it with you.

Our discussion in class centered around social media and how it takes away from our happiness. Students talked about how they took sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter off their phones. By constantly seeing others’ posts, the temptation to compare our lives to others is a strong one. But not readily having access alleviates this problem.

That makes sense. That can definitely present a problem if we are always envious of what we perceive others to have. And it may make us feel dissatisfied with what we have.

Twitter and Instagram are two sites I visit extremely rarely. But Facebook is still on my phone. And my tablet. And my computer. But I spend about a tenth of the time I used to on this site. I use it to mainly to share my blog posts twice a week. I enjoy looking at my memories. But only once in a blue moon will I post something.

I have all but given up scrolling. I have several hundred Facebook friends, many of whom have nothing better to do than to tell me what they ate for breakfast or what color t-shirt they’re wearing. And then there are those nasty posts about politics or religion. Or people who feel the need to post every photo in their gallery including ridiculous selfies. And don’t get me going on the ones who feel it’s necessary to share a dozen posts a day.

Sorry but I don’t have the patience for this anymore. I don’t miss the frustration of scrolling through twenty posts to get to one that actually may interest me. Instead, I search the people I want to keep in touch with and check out their posts regularly. I also rely heavily on Messenger and do respond to those messages.

I also prefer to read the news online rather than to rely on gossip and inaccurate speculations so prominent on Facebook. Although I must admit that even some of the events reported on national networks sometimes may fall into those categories.

By the way, if I’ve offended you by this post please feel free to unfriend me.

Happy Humpday!

Oct6

So What?!

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Monday, Monday. Facebook down. What’s App not working. Didn’t bother checking Instagram.

It certainly made for a quieter day. No constant pings and dings of notifications on my phone. I actually spent very little time on my phone.

Here in Mexico What’s App is a lifeline to many. I’ve met a lot of people who just put 50 pesos at a time on their phone. They don’t have a phone plan like I do.

For 200 pesos a month, less than $10 US, I have unlimited talking and texting as well as long distance to the USA and Canada. Some data is included ans all social media is also free.

Without a phone plan, What’s App that runs off WiFi is free, so that is a very popular option for those who do not have a plan.

Therefore a lot of people were impacted when everything went down on Monday. Their pesos on their phones would not stretch quite as far.

I find it interesting that phone plans here are so reasonably priced. In the USA a similar plan with AT&T costs me $40. Canada was even more expensive the last time I was there.

While buying cell phones is far more expensive in Mexico, using them is definitely much more affordable here.