Presently...

Presently, I have not wanted to write....

Presently, I have filled my bits of free time with Facebook, Pinterest, Craigslist and other non-present, time consuming things.

Things that I know are not incredibly important. Things that don't leave me feeling refreshed. Things that don't make me feel like I've used those precious free minutes thoughtfully.

I read this blog post by Sarah Bessy recently. Other than the fact that I love her writing, I also love her point here.

She writes about what we are taking in; what are we letting into the sacred space of our hearts and minds and how is it affecting us. What does it make us feel, think, do? What are you letting past your gates?

I'm not saying that a little Facebook or Pinterest every now and then is a bad thing. I truly love seeing what my friends are up to through Facebook; seeing pictures of a pregnant friend's growing belly, or a sweet family who is currently living life abroad. I love that it can connect us in that way. I also love finding bits of inspiration on Pinterest, whether it's a new meal I can add to my list or a great teaching idea I hadn't thought of.

But it's about when it goes beyond that point. When these things... these social media outlets start sucking up minutes when we should have been sleeping, when we could have been reading, or when we could have actually been talking on the phone to those aforementioned friends.

It's about when these online things take up more time then the real things. The flesh and blood things. The tangible things.

It's about the difference between a recent Huffington Post article about 5 ways to live a stressless life and the paper and spine of a book in your hands.

The things that literally breathe.

Today I am present in the reality that I need to spend more time in this place. This life place. That I need to do a better job of guarding my gates.