Social media intimidates the crap out of me.

In 2004 I went naively off to college. I immediately set up my computer so that I could instant message my boyfriend (oh yea, that’s the hubs now). I spent so much time and effort creating these clever little “away messages”, which were usually emotional song lyrics. For those of you who are too young to know what an away message is, think of it as your Facebook status, Tweet, or even your Snapchat story. Then after several months I moved in with a new roommate who told me that I needed to create a Myspace page. I had absolutely no clue what this was but quickly learned that it was really important to be in someone’s top eight. Then in 2005, after I had finally learned the ins and outs of Myspace, I discovered Facebook. Then came Instagram, Pinterest and finally SnapChat. It has been a love hate relationship, and for a while I even deleted the apps from my phone and tablet. As a side note, I no longer have Myspace (although, does anyone really know how to completely delete a Myspace account…I think it’s somewhere out there in internet limbo). I never had a Twitter account, a blog or a YouTube channel. And I never wanted any of these things, until recently.

A few weeks ago, April 2nd to be exact, I decided to begin a new adventure. One that requires my presence on social media sites. Suddenly, I needed two accounts for Instagram, Facebook and even Pinterest. I even had to create another e-mail account. Which wouldn’t be a big deal, but I’m one of those people who have 15,793 unread messages in their inbox. I was overwhelmed with the amount of information I had to learn, not to mention the number of login names and passwords to keep track of. I felt like I was spending hours online and barely getting anything accomplished. I felt like I was starting to lose myself and my sanity. Then I realized what was happening. I was starting to shut down, like I always do when things get overwhelming. I was facing new things and heading in a new direction. I was scared. I thought, “I could just stop right now, I could go back to my comfortable, risk averse lifestyle”. But then where would I be next week, next month or next year? I would be in the same place I am at this very moment. I would not have experienced any growth. I wouldn’t feel any more accomplished or confident. What I would experience, if I had backed down at that very moment, is regret. So I chose not to give up. I chose to move forward into what I don’t know and what scares me. I now have two of every account, a Twitter account and even this blog. Because next week, next month and next year I am going to be grateful for this experience.