Why I Love But (Temporarily) Left Twitter

I love Twitter. It it my favourite social media site. My PLN (Professional Learning Network) has grown tremendously because of the connections I have made with other Twitter users. It is a method I use to keep in touch with friends and colleagues that aren't nearby. It is a source of different opinions that often don't get a lot of airplay elsewhere. It is a way for me to share great things happening in my school, and discover other great ideas and events happening in other locations.

But I've been absent from Twitter since March 6.
It's not Twitter's doing. It's me. It's my choice and a darned hard one.

Most people who know me realize that I'm Catholic. (I've made the joke many times that I'm a "practicing Catholic because I need to get better at it".) One of the things I do as a Catholic Christian is observe the penitential season of Lent. (I've written about Lent before on my blog.) The goal of Lent is to examine the things in your life that distract you and might pull you away from your own spiritual development and relationship with God. I reflected on what might be my personal distractions and I had to admit that Twitter looms large. If I have a few minutes to spare and don't want to start something significant, I'll pop on Twitter and peek at my feed. If I take a picture at school of a cool thing a student built, my first impulse is to share it on Twitter. If I see that I have notifications, I'll open up Twitter and take a look at who has mentioned me, or retweeted something I wrote. So, for Lent in 2019, I decided to step away from Twitter. I thought I'd try and replace the inclination to connect with others digitally with the opportunity to connect to God through prayer.

Tried to find an email vs knee-mail image that was labelled for reuse but couldn't find.
This image says that it comes from https://mygracefulllife.org/about/ but I can't confirm it's the original.
Apologies for potentially breaking copyright!

I don't consider myself a Twitter addict, but I sure had withdrawal pains! I don't think I've ever prayed as much as I did the first few days of my "Twitter fast"! I really had some FOMO (fear of missing out) reactions. I let my Twitter friends (some would say followers, but many are my friends) know that I would be away from Twitter until April 21. Some reacted with congratulations, some with confusion and some with disappointment - because Twitter is the primary communication tool that some of my friends and I use to keep in touch, and I was cutting that off. (I'd post some reaction tweets, but that would mean going on Twitter, and I'm trying hard to maintain my distance! I miss you Ruth!)

I consulted with my husband and my dear friend, Lisa Noble, about the best course of action. One little-known fact is that Sundays technically do not count as being part of the 40 days of Lent, so it is possible to release the restrictions on Sundays. (Sundays are days of celebration because it's the day of the Resurrection, so it's never a day of abstinence.) My own teen children, who chose to give up snacking for Lent, chose to give themselves a pass and allow some treats on Sunday. Lisa and my husband, however, recommended that I go "cold turkey". I also made sure that I didn't just use another social media platform as a replacement. I still use Instagram and Facebook, but very infrequently, and I made sure not to turn Facebook posts into substitute tweets.

Photo of the outside of my CrossFit "box" - CrossFit Canuck

"Hurting myself" by denying myself some Twitter time isn't meant to be masochistic. In fact, it was during a particularly difficult Cross Fit class a few weeks ago that solidified the connection between sacrifice and salvation. In this Sweat 60 session, we had to do jumping pull-ups, alternating with overhead dumb-bell thrusts, and then after that, we had to do a certain number of meters or calories on the ski ergonomic machine. Arm work is not my strong suit. I was despairing after the first set of exercises and the thought of using the ski erg was painful.

"Why am I doing this to myself?", I wondered.
One of my inner voices reminded me that this was good for me.
"But it doesn't feel good!", I mentally howled.
But giving up wasn't a real option. So as I pulled those darn handles over and over, I prayed. Praying got me through that exercise somehow.

People don't always turn to God when things are going well. "Gratitude" prayers aren't as fervent or as frequent, so it seems, as "desperation" or "request" prayers. By putting myself through some really uncomfortable times, I could connect with Jesus, who went through a lot worse than ten minutes on an exercise machine. My "suffering" is nothing compared to the torture and death of Jesus, but to paraphrase what I wrote in my second-to-last tweet before I took my hiatus, "suffering can be an offering". 

Will I return to Twitter? Yes, I will, but I think I will be more mindful in my use of it. Maybe I'll couple it with a quick check-in prayer to the Holy Spirit, something like the common waking prayer I was taught as a child:

Good morning dear Jesus

This day is for you

I ask you to bless

All I think, say or do

Thanks to my friends who have been so flexible with contacting me in different ways (looking at you, wonderful teachers Ashley Clarke and Beth Lyons) and I look forward to seeing you all again in the Twittersphere after Easter!