Let Go and Believe

Life can be so colorful.

You Live, you Learn, you Let go, and you become Stronger...

... and if You CHOOSE to believe that life is beautiful..

Then it is.

or it will be,

 just keep believing...

WHAT'S GOING ON? Part 2

I suppose you can find a representation of all kinds of personalities on the internet; those who are constantly blowing sunshine up your butt, those who are constantly complaining, those who are constantly on a political platform, those who are constantly proselyting, those who are angry, so it's not just the look-at-me characters that may want to view their own news feed, ALL (including myself) of us should take a personal check of our internet etiquette. 

If you want to know what is important to someone  (or what you project to the world) you might just want to take a look at your own pics and posts. This sounds judgmental on my part! And it is! Don't get me wrong, i love knowing where people stand on life issues, family celebrations and sharing something that touched them or made them laugh, but family arguments, divorce celebrations and overall dogma? maybe some discretion would be better? but that's just my thought. The internet is a powerful thing and has changed our world FOREVER; for good and for bad.

Now i can't just point the finger at the younger generation because i see my generation, where our trophies become our children and grandchildren, intentions..while they may be good, can borderline as just more narcissistic ways to say, "look how great I am!" Don't get me wrong, because i do it too; i am proud of my family, soooo.. if i over-share, please give me a gentle reminder!! 

In closing, i will share a Facebook post made in July 2015 by Tandin, (yep, my son) who is a very wise and grounded  26 year old kid.

He says:

"We are in the infancy of social media and large scale instant communication. Anyone with an internet connection can voice their opinion. This is unprecedented in our history and didn't even exist when I was in junior high. We are still figuring out online etiquette and norms. I believe over time there will be an understood way of handling yourself online, but right now we are in the toddler phase of online conduct.  

I have silently read through a ton of facebook and news article comment sections this past week. This past week is something Americans have never experienced before. It is the first historical event where pretty much everyone has an opinion and many have vocalized that opinion. I would imagine we would have seen a lot of the same rhetoric during segregation and other polarizing events had social media existed back then.  

My point in posting this is to voice my opinion. I wish we wouldn't be so quick to anger (and I say 'we' because I am including myself). The moment you get angry is precisely the moment that you lose, regardless of your stance. I wish more people would think twice before posting their comments. You can absolutely voice your view, but maybe take a little time to think about it first. Whether or not your name is attached to your post there is still a consequence. That consequence may not directly affect you, but it may affect those who read it.  

I would hope that you are not motivated by fear. The media has done a pretty good job at scaring the masses. But the truth is that crazy and horrible stuff has been happening since forever, you now just have a platform to see it all. The world is a pretty great place if you shut off the tv and close your browser.  

What this world could use is a bit more compassion.  

It's time to grow up from the toddler stage of online discourse. My bet is we'll look back twenty years from now and think our behavior was embarrassing.  

I honestly don't care what your political and religious views are as long as you are respectful to me and the people around you.  

So that's my opinion about all of the recent events. Oh, and please have your pets spayed or neutered."

WHAT'S GOING ON? Part 1

I took Tandin (my youngest son) to dinner last night and we had a very insightful and enlightening conversation about social/media--the internet--

Now one thing i won't do is go into a diatribe as to how "when i was a kid..." We've all heard the stories...

I will however take this opportunity to share what i learned. 

1) There's a dating app called "Tinder" where you can swipe right if you are interested and left if you are not. Apparently this forum has defined what the urban dictionary calls, --dating up-- which is dating someone higher on the social ladder than you. Now this social ladder is solely based upon appearance (obviously). 2) On the app called "Instagram" which is a pictorial type of Facebook, it is better to have more people following You than how many you follow. So..this forum is about sharing your picture perfect life in such a way that even people who have never met you "follow" you because your life looks exciting, glamorous and perfect.  

Huh? Last time i checked, at least what Reality i know, is people have problems! People have challenges, sad times, lonely times, and a myriad of other realities (most of which are not appropriate to air on social media). I am genuinely concerned when our teachers are reporting that our children are becoming socially backwards; where they know everything about each other (or what is projected on the internet), yet have no clue who that person really is!

Someone recently reminded me of the "brag letter" i wrote many years ago, customarily sent out at the end of the year, culminating all the great things my family had done. My letter was prompted and written in satire because of how i wanted to throw up from the many brag letters i had received, so... i wrote my version of bragging, a few of the highlights were: "we were thrilled our son was clean from a 7 year addiction to drugs--my med's had finally kicked in and i had come out of a deep dark depression--another son didn't make the basketball team and learned one of the best lessons in life, how to lose--we hadn't accumulated any more debt--and the highlight--Dozer hadn't pooped in the house! Every bit of this was truth. 

Uhhh, ok, Dozer probably DID poop in the house! He's definitely feeling guilty and in trouble.

I am saddened and shocked by how our society functions in this "virtual reality." I am particularly concerned for our young people where the emphasis is on image and appearance, i.e., what vacation they just took where they can flaunt their over-pumped-up muscles, flat abs, gaunt cheeks, designer clothing and the spectacular lives they lead--like all the time! Really, all the time? 

To be continued...