This has been a decision I’ve thought and prayed through. It boils down to simplicity and decluttering. I don’t say that lightly, nor do I mean that people are clutter. What I do mean is that I’m becoming increasingly worried about spreading myself too thin, about putting more of myself out there in the public domain for consumption. To be honest, keeping up with friends and fans in a deliberate way is tiring. And trying to differentiate between the two in the way I post has become a nuisance. I also want to be a good steward of my time. So I’m taking a new step. Toward community, in a way. Toward genuine, face to face community.When I first started facebook, I freaked over strangers asking me to be their friends. I ignored all the requests, only to find out it would be beneficial to add them in terms of marketing. Even writing that makes me stressed and sad. I don’t want to market to friends. Don’t they know me already? Do they really need to know about my books?

Then I went friend crazy until I reached facebook nirvana: 5000 friends. Which then meant that anyone else who wanted to add me (often true, face-to-face friends) couldn’t be accepted. I’ve floated around in this state a few months now. And now I’m ready to make the switch. To honor the word “friend” and keep it that way.

Who is a friend? A friend is someone I’ve spent face time with, someone I’ve loved, talked to, interacted with, prayed for directly. So I’m going to be whittling down my list to a hundred or so in the next three days. If you’d still like to get updates from me, simply click on the Mary DeMuth fan page (which is still a term I don’t like) and “like” me. The “Like” text is on the lower left hand side of the page, kind of small and hard to find. Sorry about that.

This “liking” nonsense reminds me of a funny quote from Michael Scott from The Office. He said:

“Do I need to be liked? Absolutely not. I like to be liked. I enjoy being liked. I have to be liked. But it’s not like this, compulsive, need, to be liked. Like my need to be praised.”

So I guess I “need” to be liked, in this instance.

Why am I making the switch?

1. To have a safe place to let my hair down and be myself with people I know, love and trust.
2. To separate my professional life from my personal life.
3. To give me space to concentrate more on my face-to-face friends.
4. To give writing and book-related and Jesusy information through the channel of my fan page.

I hope you understand this decision. It’s not a big one in the grand scheme of God’s kingdom. But in some ways, I feel freer as I take this step. I’ll still be tweeting, too, so you can follow me there as well.

Let’s end this with community: How are you simplifying your life? Your social media? Your home? Your relationships? Your busyness?