April 2014

April 2014 has totally sucked donkey balls. Honestly it's been ruddy awful! But you don't get a rainbow without any rain, huh? Everything comes right in the end and all that jazz.
I have left Facebook! Well, the social side, anyway. My old profile is still there as are the thousands of photos accumulated over the many years I've been glued to it, but I personally have cut the strings and walked away. And it feels good.
I joined Facebook in 2006- ish? I became one of the addicted and have spent more hours than I care to imagine on Facebook. My friends are inside my computer and I run my business from there, too. What's not to love? Well...people really. Where there is the internet you get people who hide behind their screens and the trolls came out to play, amongst other things. You can recieve 298073863 nice comments but there's always the few that really like to piss on your bonfire, and they are the ones that stick in your brain. Uggh!
In April the Paper Panda Facebook page passed 100,000 likers. Wow. And so we rejoiced! I gave away a free original cut on my personal profile to the person that guessed what day we'd hit the milestone and it was really exciting, especially as it was Dave's birthday who guessed correctly (he chose a Dormouse cut in the end).
Behind the scenes Paper Panda has grown. I do still pop on the FB page to see everyone as I'm too attached NOT to, but generally I now have Julie, Emily and Vicky who are all looking after the page and emails for me which leaves me to....cut paper! I've left my personal Facebook so never get group notifications, my feed isn't full of five million pages, I'm not distracted and it's BLISS. I do miss my friends, it's like something huge is missing, but I feel....free?
Nobody contacts me to tell me they hate me. Nobody contacts me to ask for donations. Nobody contacts me to tell me somebody is copying me or selling my designs. True enough, nobody contacts me to tell me my nails look nice today, but you can't have everything, right?
So I have looooads of time on my hands. I don't do anything but cut paper which is why I seem so prolific - I AM. I don't go out, don't drink, don't smoke, don't have hobbies, don't do housework, don't...behave like a regular human, I suppose, haha...all I do is cut paper to the point of obsession from morning through til bedtime. So now I have more time there are loads of original cuts - huzzah! 
I have been able to have early nights. I read a magazine on the loo instead of updating my status. I have been on four, yes FOUR dog walks so far (I really DON'T go outside unless I have to, usually!). Last weekend we went to York, didn't have internet access and THAT WAS OKAY. There is life outside Facebook....and it is sweet.
Will I ever go back? I don't know. I like this protective bubble. There may be WW3 going on and I'd have no idea. My mojo is coming back. Maybe I'll....write a letter? Or a book?
Nah...I'll just cut more paper *twirls scalpel*....