“social media” – Creations By Cathy

A summer sabbatical. From social media. Interesting. So what does that really mean, and why do it?

Well… by definition, it just means that I took the complete summer off from participating in any form of social media. At all.

Ya, right.

I do have to say, however, that I really did try. There were a few “cheats” along the way; but for the most part I honestly tried to steer clear of the constant temptations and did my very best to avoid this love/hate relationship that I seem to have with my computer. Hmmm. Think I just stumbled across the perfect segway into the real “meat and potatoes” of this post… “Why do it?”.

A couple reasons, really. First of all to test myself. Can I possibly survive without social media? Will the world – or, perhaps more specifically, MY world, cease to exist without the constant stimulation of my daily dose of social media buzz? As it turns out, one can exist, and dare I say, thrive, WITHOUT social media. Who knew. That being said, however… What about my readers? My fellow bloggers? My Pinterest peeps? My Facebook friends… and likes… and followers…? Will THEY be able to survive the summer without my insight, my perspective, my wisdom, my knowledge, my non-stop chatter…. ???

In a word – yes.

So, there it is, friends. The summer sabbatical is complete; and I am back. I (quite sincerely) look forward to our time together going forward. There is just so much we have to learn from each other. And yes; I missed you.

live happy – Cathy

No. Contrary to popular belief, I did NOT fall off the face of the earth. I was merely sidelined for awhile; a direct hit from a “social media meteor” that came crashing down to earth and annihilated my computer. A wee bit dramatic? Maybe. Anyway; Here’s the story…

So there I was. It was the day after moving my booth out of Trendz, and it was my first day forward on my new adventure. An adventure that is rooted in promoting myself and my business, “Creations by cathy“, via the world of social media. And the thing is, I really like this world of “social media”. Ok… Correction. “Liked” this world…

I had just posted pics from my Trendz move earlier in the day on Facebook and was busy working on a blogpost. Actually two. Suddenly, and without any warning, everything went blank. And black. Hmmm… “This is not good”, she thought, pensively. She was right. Her computer had crashed. And so the nightmare began.

It was a real mess. I had no acess to my email, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Pinterest – No pictures, files, internet. I was (sniff!) all alone!! And every time we thought we had it all done, we would hit another roadblock. So blah, blah, blah. Besides a few minor issues, I think it is pretty much behind me and I have transferred everything over to my laptop from “up in the cloud”… Whew!!

So this whole experience really got me thinking about how much we really rely on all of this “technological technology” to get us through our day. Our world. Our life….

So “what if”…??? What if our world still revolved around typewriters and adding machines and people paid cash… What if we waited by the mailbox rather than our “inbox” or a text message? What if our phones still had a (gulp!!) CORD! And what if our biggest distraction while driving was the AM radio (cassette player) being too loud…? Yes – the world would certainly be different than it is today. Better though? I dunno. In some ways… definitely yes. But we are here and there is no going back.

It’s kinda funny (??) how much more time you “find” when you aren’t able to tap into the old computer, though… During my “time away” from the social media world, I was actually able to steer off in a completely different direction. Several, actually! We finally started several “home renovation” projects that we have been putting off forever. Truth is – We are having so much fun!! We are still in the middle of everything, but I promise to share pics and stories! I have also been playing with my new camera (Christmas) and cooking (currently hooked on soups** with this “lovely” cold weather – Ugh!) AND continuing my attempts to organize (Let’s just say a long, long way to go with that! HA!)

So anyway – onward and upward. I know that I kinda, sorta, maybe implied that I was fed up with technology… but that’s only when it’s not working. You know, the old “love/hate” thingie. Besides, I just saw on Pinterest that the Mac comes in pink…??? What the heck? Are you kidding me?

Ya. I’m back.

**Check out my Facebook page today for 101 soup recipes!!