Simplicity in Action: Nina Yau
Editor’s Note: This is a post in the new series, Simplicity in Action. If you’d like to submit your story of how simplicity has worked in your life, please read more here. You can write about anything from decluttering a junk drawer to simplifying your diet. Let your small and big changes inspire others.
Nina Yau
I’ll be honest. Minimizing can be difficult. It’s easy to accumulate but harder to eliminate. Why is this?
I set out on a private social experiment that lasted over a year and is just concluding now. Sometime early 2011, I decided to accept all friend requests on Facebook, regardless of who it was, why, or how the person found me. I wanted to see what would happen. This led my list to incur over 1,200 people over the next eighteen months. But how many of these 1,200 people were actual friends of mine? I know of some people who have several thousand friends so perhaps this number does not seem so outrageous. Also, I understand some people use social media for different purposes. I wanted to go to one extreme and back to the other end, finally concluding in a balanced place where I feel best. Extremes are temporary; balance is sustainable.
A couple of days ago, I spent the day digital cleansing and my first tackle was at Facebook. After deleting nearly 1,000 people off my account, I was left with 25% of what my original number was. The great thing is, now that I scroll through my list of friends, they are actual friends! It is refreshing.
At the end of the day, I can rant and rave about how much I despise Facebook and many other social media tools but this isn’t without the conscious awareness of how I am using these tools. Are they serving me or am I serving them?
Simplicity isn’t just about the physical things in our lives, though that is the most obvious, given if we bump our knee on those extra tables in the corner one too many times, we are forced to reckon with the decision of what to do with the extra tables. Extra digital things, though? A bit more complex. We can’t run into them and be reminded that we are accruing a lot of junk in our digital lives. We must, rather, consciously take action and make smart decisions that will help us, not harm us.
Read more from Nina at Castles in the Air and check out her new beautiful book, Truth
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10 Responses to “Simplicity in Action: Nina Yau”
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How true. I never got into the social media thing until this year. My son begged me to sign up with facebook so I could at least see what was going on with my youngest grand child that I don’t get to see more than once a month. I did and am glad I did so. I have added a few people, but my total friends come to a whopping 5 people, all family with the exception of two personal friends.
this is thought-provoking for me. I have had a similar insight about the TOO MUCH and so as 2011 wound to a close I shifted EVERYthing. deleted [why EVER did I save all that anyway?!] emails and folders and stuff stuff stuff. it is Now a part of my every day clutter clearing. in fact, I think I will go DO some Right Now!!
Am very very picky whom I follow on Facebook, because I am not looking to have the most followers or following the most people. It’s simply a connection tool where folks like me who grow vegetable gardens, can, sew,live off grid, live simple share valuable information.
Spend an hour one day deleting folks who simply were posting ‘stuff’ not usable information. My time is valuable and when I am not doing something productive I am resting, relaxing and appreciating the fact I have the time to do so.
WoW! That’s exactly what I felt and did with my social media accounts. You can read the article I wrote about my experiment on my blog here: http://www.transformationalmotivation.com/a-crazy-social-media-experiment-to-become-socially-smart/
Whew! Nina – I am currently in the middle of clearing up my own digital clutter and know exactly how you feel! A sure case of quality being better than quantity, no? Great read and thanks for sharing! Half way through my process, I am excited about the amount of time I am going to save on a recurring basis! Have a great Sunday!
Digital media and devices are indeed complex. My iPhone can reduce the physical clutter. It is a gps, note taker, calendar, idea generator, mp3 player, and lastly a phone. It can be an elegantly simple tool if used mindfully. Mindful application is the key
And Nina I am a big fan!
Nina,
I’m keen on clearing up digital clutter too. Your article made me think, but I haven’t come to a definitive conclusion. The question that comes to my mind is that maybe your FB posts meant something to a few of those “strangers”. I’m glad you achieved greater peace of mind, but I’m not sure of the best route for me.
i started fb with an idiosynchratic self-imposed 99 “friend” limit. recently i found myself whittling down to 82 (with still room to further simplify). thanks for the post. mara