Faceblah and Farewell?

I recently saw my 'friends' list on Facebook and saw it was a whopping 249 friends. WHAT?!?!? How is that possible? Especially when I sometimes spend Friday nights by myself! So I started looking into WHO these people are and how did I accumulate so many people? I'd say I have about 20 family members, 10 or so really good friends and a few trustworthy co-workers...so they can stay. As I scanned down the list, I realized that I haven't talked to or seen the majority of these 'friends' in over 10-15 years. So why am I friends with them? I started to delete them...I'm already down 50 people, but then this double-edged sword stabbed me in the back:

"What if I 'offend' these people?"

And then it all came to me...WHY DO I CARE?????
Seriously, why should I care about offending a person who simply 'added' me as a friend to say "Oh, yeah! Lizzie Grigio! I remember her...cool!" And after the initial "What have you been up to?" wall post, they go silent.

And I'm also starting to rethink this whole blog thing. I'm not sure I really want people to know me by my blog. This is just a tiny snippet of who I am as a person. This evening I respectfully declined to continue the application process for ivillage. I don't think I want the world to know this much about me anymore. Granted this blog has helped me grow, but what happens when I find someone? And what if they don't want to be discussed on here? What started as a really great way to clear my mind, now has me wondering how it will affect me down the road? And the whole teacher thing...not a good thing for me probably. Ultimately, I don't want new people that enter my life getting to know me this way. I want to get to know people from now on the old fashioned way...actually going out and having great conversations. It all goes back to my blog about online dating. It's not natural to get to know people this way, in all this social media-madness. So this may be my last public blog. And it seriously makes me wonder:

Are We Now Forced (in a way) to Lead Public Lives in Order to Stay Social????

I blame the media and the product of fear. It seems everyone now is afraid of strangers. I ALWAYS talk to strangers...yes a few were 'interesting,' but they're strangers! Be polite and walk away. It seems today in order to spend time with someone, you need a laundry list of facts about a person in order to 'hang.' And how can you trust those facts are true??? Oh, wait! I forgot...if it's on the interwebs it HAS to be true! ;) But seriously, folks. There is nothing to be afraid of out there. Yes, there's crime. Yes, there's deceit. However, there's also great kindness to encounter. And joy to be had. And life to be lived. And sometimes...the greatest joys can be had when you least expect it. As long as you open your heart, great things can come your way. :) And I might be getting close to saying Bye-Bye to Facebook soon...the only purpose it's currently serving me is a major traffic site for this blog. Guess I have some things to think about.

Advice for those of you that have off Thursday: Talk to a stranger! They'll either make your day or you'll make theirs! :)