Shrove Tuesday.

I have ranted about the evils of Facebook on more than one occasion.

I am a hypocrite.  I am on that page more often than I care to admit every single day.  It is a huge time vampire for me.  I can disappear down the Facebook rabbit hole for hours while my kids wreck my house and the laundry piles ever higher.  Books are stacked up on the table (and now piling up in my e-reader).  Projects ignored.  All because I have the need to look at some stranger's vacation pictures.

Today, I changed my status to read

Is thinking of giving up Facebook for Lent

 I got several responses ranging from " Nooooooooooooooo who'll I talk to???"  to  "That's such a good idea that I wish I was still a Catholic."  (Those were cut and pasted from my actual profile page)

I am an addict.  Facebook is the first thing I turn on in the morning and the last thing I look at before I go to bed.  It is getting out of hand.  Today is Shrove Tuesday.  The day before Lent.  I remember my friend April turned off her internet for the 40 days of Lent last year.  I am not going that far, though I applaud her dedication.  I live with a computer software developer.  Computers and the internet are a way of life for us.  I have just identified the biggest problem in my life and I need to gain some distance and perspective so I can re-integrate it in a more healthy way.  I am not even close to being a devout Anglican, but Lent is a nice, clear cut time frame in which to do this detox process.  Lent is also a time traditionally reserved for reflection and introspection.  I feel like distancing myself from Facebook for a while will make me a better person in the long run.

There are people from far away places I will miss having easy contact to.  I know that.  I am sure the first few days will be the hardest.  But, I am not cutting off all modes of communication.  You can find me here.  You can find me on email.  IM.  I have a phone and a cel phone.  It is just that even with all of those other distractions, Facebook is the hardest one to turn off.    The fact that I am still online, even though I am not on Facebook will be tough.  In fact, let me put this out right now.  If you catch me on Facebook during the next 40 days I will donate 10 dollars to the Canadian World Friendship Fund. 

Hey, the upside could be more blog posts for you to read!

I can do this, can't I??