My Ah-Ha Moment and New England

I've been feeling really dissatisfied with the amount of time I was wasting scrolling through Facebook and Instagram.  I would frequently ask myself "Why am I doing this?"  The waste of time, the egoism, the competitiveness, the addiction, the distraction... It hit me.  Instead of making me feel more social, I think it made me anti-social.  I had to be coerced to start FB in the beginning.  I was a holdout for a long time, but then I convinced myself I needed to do it.

I will admit, though, that I will miss seeing my little grand nieces and nephews, and the rare funny joke, as well as my friends' travel pictures, but I hope that those people will still send me pictures, call or email me when they want to share part of their lives.  

I even felt a sense of dissatisfaction when looking over quilting pictures.  What I could see from an IG photo, or in a quilt group photo just kept leading me more and more into a FB or IG funk.  It also surprised me (that's how ridiculously entrenched I was in the FB sinkhole) that so many of the Houston International winners were completely unfamiliar to me.  What?!?  A quilt winner who isn't on FB or who doesn't have a huge public social media presence??  (PLEASE, if anyone is out there reading this, if you are an avid social media poster, please do not be offended by my statements.  I'm not criticizing you, I'm just making a change for me.). I honestly assumed that all of the winners would have social media campaigns.  Naive, I know. 

So, I've decided to take a break from Facebook and Instagram.  I'm not sure how long the break will be, but it's been two days and I'm feeling better. I admire people who can pop on for a few minutes every couple weeks.  That's not me.  I actually feel like making this decision is almost the same as breaking any other addiction.  It's so crazy.  I've had so much more time to do the things I really love; for instance, read a quilt magazine, play my guitar, take an exercise class, and yes, change my blog face. 

I missed updating my blog, or as it was intended, an online journal.  I missed being able to choose which blog posts I wanted to see and when!!  So, I'm back, and I'm doing this for the right reasons.  I'm not trying to impress anyone.  I'm not trying to win over any customers, or to see my name in the Great Quilting Lights.  I'm just writing about my little world with an emphasis on quilting.  

I'm hoping I will have more time to do what I want, and that is to be creative, and to make things with that creativity.  If you're still reading my blog, thanks for stopping by.  I do appreciate it.  I've made some wonderful online friends through blogging, and I hope to stop by your blog to see what you're up to.  

So a couple weeks ago I was fortunate enough to go to New England (first time) and return to NYC.  It was such a beautiful time of the year to go!  

The leaves were turning throughout New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, New York.

A covered bridge in Bennington, Vermont.

These cute white churches were everywhere in the small villages.

Driving through the Catskills.

The Hudson River Valley

Just a lovely country road.

Near Ogonquit, Maine.

Thanks again for stopping by.  Hopefully I will have some quilts things to report next time!