Even More Change Is Coming

Change seems to be the name of the game over here on Chocolate & Paper, but such is life. It’s been a while since I’ve had a chatty kind of post, so here’s what’s gone on these past few weeks and what’s led me to a few recent decisions.

First, let’s rewind to February 2022. I was working my butt off in retail, pushing freight and moving a whole bunch of stuff for a local retailer. Annnnnnd then my spine happened. The pain in my shoulder got worse, and I was put on a weight lift restriction for work. As such, it effectively ended my career in unloading trucks and stocking items. I was in so much pain by the end of the day that I was listing, and that’s not a good thing.

Second, fast forward to today, and I now have a new, light duty job where I only have to lift paper and clipboards and type on a keyboard all day. Yay! However, it comes with a caveat. I went from steady hours (6 AM to 1:30 PM) to hours all over the board with a travel team for a local hospital system. I knew this change was coming, and that it, combined with some other things I’ve been thinking about for a long time, lead to my current decisions. So, here we go.

No More Twitter

I did it. I ripped off the bandaid. It was absolutely time to get off Twitter (and Reddit, for that matter). This has nothing to do with Elon Musk purchasing the platform. I’ve felt, for these past few weeks, that Twitter isn’t the platform for me anymore.

And heck, there’s other choices out there.

But in my quest to return to a simpler lifestyle – one with little internet involvement – something had to go. Well, not just something. Many things. These past few months were spent exploring those options, and I think I’ve finally settled on two that never would’ve really crossed my mine this time last year.

Pinterest and Instagram

Trends live fast and die hard. Remember Snapchat? I barely do. I also didn’t like the idea of it because it was video sharing. Remember MySpace? The old school version? Yeah. That’s more my speed. Old school.

I suppose at this point you can call both Pinterest and Instagram old school, and I’m okay with that. I know this change will most definitely affect traffic to this blog, and how I share things. But I knew that going into this decision with my eyes wide open.

There’s just…so much noise on Twitter that I don’t need in my life right now.

An odd side of the internet also exists: I just thought of several things to share over on Twitter – really random things – and went “Oh yeah, I can’t. I just deactivated the account.” We’ve become so trained to share just every little thing that that’s now the first thing that pops into our heads.

Change Must Happen

I wouldn’t say I’ve become addicted to the Internet…or, perhaps, I have in a way. What I’m proud of the most is my desire to break away from this constant “sharing of everything” because I think whatever I have to say is pertinent to someone else. A good 95% of what I put out there doesn’t even get a “like” these days, and that was really affecting my mood.

Not only that, but it was taking time away from what I really want to do in my spare time: blog, write and explore more of Pittsburgh. In fact, I found a gorgeous spot on Bigelow Avenue on my way to work Monday with a surprising and equally gorgeous view of Pittsburgh. I mean, why don’t more people talk about this tiny little park?!

Even though I drove hard and fast with the blog posts the first quarter of this year, I do believe it’s time to slow down and savor each one a little more than I was before. Change has already happened a LOT these last two years on the blog. I am, after all, a one-woman show. I gotta give myself a little grace every now and then, right?

Though how I’ll be moving forward with post sharing has yet to be decided, I’ll still blog my little heart out whenever I can. So please bear with me as change happens upon Chocolate & Paper once again! Linked below are the only two social media accounts I now hold. Join me!