Delete All

Yesterday, after 16 years of use, I deleted my personal Facebook account. (And by delete I mean, I removed all friends and groups, leaving it only as an admin account for my pousada's FB page.) If I didn't have a guesthouse with so many fans on Facebook, I'd permanenly delete everything. But I have to be realistic, and so the best I can do - for now - is to remove the app from my phone, the shortcut from my browser, and only use the site for work purposes.

I also deleted my Tumblr blog, my writings on Wattpad, my Feedly and Snapchat accounts. And all dating and hook up apps.

I didn't feel anything - no weight lifted, no great shift. It was just something to do, and a truth to recognise that these sites no longer served me and merely held traces of my digital presence. I felt slightly uneasy later about not feeling anything.

Today, I'm reflecting on Livejournal and if I honestly still wish to use this site. As I write this, I can see shortcuts to YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Goodreads on the browser's tabs. A part of me fears I'll be completely isolated - more so than I already am - if I no longer have any social networks.

And don't get me started on WhatsApp...

The Friday Five: Favourite Memories

Via thefridayfive

1. What was your favorite past time in high school?
During my freshman and sophmore years, computer games. During my junior and senior years, hang out with friends after school.

2. What is your all time favorite board game/card game?
Escape from Atlantis. I regret giving it to one of my young cousins when I went off to Uni.

3. What is the last movie you saw at the theatre and what did you think of it?
Star Wars: the Rise of Skywalker. I spent the whole movie necking a young man I met on a dating app so cannot comment what the movie is about.

4. What is something (no matter what kind of mood you're in) that makes you happy the moment you do it, see it, or hear it?
My all time favourite song, "White Love" by One Dove. I used to love starting my runs in Victoria Park with it, back when I lived in London. Nowadays, I'll listen to it after lunch, when I'm about to take a nap - it always puts me in a nice mood.

5. Do you believe that crop circles are made by human or alien?
I don't know enough about the phenomenon, but the impression I get is that many are made by humans and many are unexplained and cannot have been done by humans. So maybe a bit of both?