I've grown a bit tired of social media - I said a bit tired, because I'm not tired of how social media allows me to stay in touch with many people who have made a favorable mark on my journey. Life comes at you, time passes in the blinking of eyes, playing fields get leveled and the older I get, the more I give thought to how connected we are to one another. Social media is mostly a shallow connection - on its best days being a mere reminder of the genuine human touch. If you're not seeing signs that social media is robbing many of us of the genuine human connection/touch...well, you're probably paying too much attention to things social media. Don't believe me? Take a look around the next time you're sitting in a restaurant - fifty bucks says you'll find people staring at their phones. I'm dating myself when I say I grew up in a time where you didn't take a phone call while you were having dinner.
So I'll allow a little bit of social media to have some space/time in my day. Fuck the faux activist shit that clouds up news feeds. If something moves me enough, I should get off my arse and act on it. The memes aren't going to save us - they're not. We need to save ourselves, and yet it seems like we only get more divided when we know enough by now to realize just how connected we are as humans. Don't get me wrong, I love this country - but I don't believe that my being born here makes me any better of a person. I'm not much of a fan of what I call the rabid sports fan mindset - the whole, "We're number one - you suck!" mentality. I had a teacher who stressed the importance of sportsmanship more than the competition itself. I had no way of knowing how that would play into my favoring a creative mindset over a competitive one, but I get it...now. The thing is, I could have just as easily been born into far worse circumstances, surroundings or some minority that still struggles unjustly in a fucking day and age where we collectively know better, yet act like we don't.
We live in a time where we should be getting less divided by the minute, but instead, we get more divided, less compassionate much less empathetic towards others who are different from us. The mere act of wanting someone to listen and consider another point of view has us jumping on the defense...or offense. We're so fucking sensitive about being so fucking insensitive.
Remember the scene in the movie, Roxanne, where Steve Martin's character walks up to a newspaper machine, puts a quarter in it and grabs a newspaper, glances at the headlines, lets out a yell in disgust and then reaches into his pocket for another quarter, puts it in the slot, opens the machine and puts the paper back? Yeah, that. That's what the blue and white social media is like for me these days. I don't want to look any more - and it's not like I want to know any less. Awareness is one thing, but a few mouse clicks, well chosen words - or in a lot of cases, poorly chosen words, hashtag this, meme that? Not much of an accomplishment. All of us could do well keeping a lid on things from time to time - and that includes me. Sad thing is, there's a douchebag sitting in an oval office who can't keep his fucking mouth shut. Not trying to get political - don't wanna open that can of worms, but for the love of God, how about some dignity, class or respect? Nasty things are no less so hiding behind a bible, a cross...and yes, even a fucking flag. Ever hear the cliche about someone else's candle burning does not in any way make your own any less bright? We're better because of our actions, not because of our bragging...or at least we should be better because of our actions. We should let our actions brag for us, yet we decide more by the minute that there have to be absolute winners and absolute losers. Fuck compromise, mutual agreements and the mere considering that we could be seeking more win-win solutions that take into account our differences.
I'm surrounded by some small world problems this morning, in a world that has much, much bigger problems. I should remember to be grateful for more things than I can count, get off of my arse and just start addressing them one by one. What's a bit of laundry or mulch that needs put down, spread out and tamped down? What's a gym closing at fucking ONE PM on Saturdays & Sundays all Summer long going to hurt me, a guy who has a different kind of nine to five? I'll live. There's a roof over my head, there's food on my table, coffee in my cup, juice in my glass and the sun is shining. There's a difference to be made, and none of it is going to happen on social media. Dear Lord, please bless this breakfast I'm about to Instagram....
Peace, good people. Get up, go forth and do something on this beautiful day. These are my second cup of coffee ramblings on this gorgeous Sunday morning.
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