Social Media

I’ve written about both the positive and negative sides of social media before, here and here. Just like everything, there are good and bad sides to it. For me, overall, my experiences on various Social Media networks have been positive. I’ve met so many great people who I otherwise wouldn’t have met, plus have managed to keep in touch with people from my past and regain contact with others which may otherwise never have happened. There have been days when I haven’t been able to go out, so that little bit of contact can be all that’s needed to keep me going. A little smile, a little hello. Both new friends and old, whether I’ve ever known them in person or not, are just one click away.

Of course, the other thing about Social Media is that, without it, I wouldn’t be able to share this wonderful blog here! :) Now what would you all do without it?!

Yet recently I’ve learnt about its dark side. Now we’ve all heard about bullies that use Social Media to be able to plague their victims from a distance, yet to see evidence of such actions for yourself is something else. Luckily I have personally only ever had minor niggles show up, the odd person who’s decided to take advantage of my Facebook inbox in order to be shouty where they wouldn’t be brave enough to do so in person. On Facebook you’re mostly protected (despite how much I don’t trust them!), as long as you have your security settings programmed in correctly. Twitter, on the other hand, is an open field where mud can be flung and spread at an alarming rate. The rate at which the dung and filth spreads is quicker and more efficient than any farmer’s muck spreader, but without the positives of goodly nutrients going into the earth. People have filth and poison pushed into their open, hungry mouths just so they can go and spout it out somewhere else, or even back at the victim themselves.

Having been a victim of bullying in the past, in person, naturally it’s one of the things I can’t abide. Any decent, self-respecting person would find it abhorrent. Yet, there it is, just a click away, another wannabe thug digging into someone they wouldn’t have the guts to confront in person.

So there, unfortunately, lies the biggest downside of Social Media. The one thing that can be good for us, being able to speak to people at a distance when we are otherwise unable to go out into the world, is the exact same thing that bullies use to spread their filth. I have no time for those sorts of people.

Yet, as I have said, luckily I have mostly only had positive experiences, met some great people who have literally changed my life. So, despite all its negative sides, I am still a big advocate of the use of Social Media sites. Yet, at the same time, we all need to be vigilant and careful. If someone has nasty things to say about someone, make sure you know the full story before jumping on the bandwagon. Better still, stay away.

Minor Headaches

Writing with a headache. It feels in a way like drilling holes in my brain. I knew I shouldn't have stayed so long, but the bus always seems to come early nowadays. So here I am, writing with a headache, because I can't call for a lift twice in one week. I'm also hungry. And my phone's died. So I'm lonely, hungry, have a headache, and am writing because there's nothing else to do. So, what next?

It's hardly like it's the worst situation I've been in, not by far. But life still seems unfair at these times. Like all the problems I've been having with my accordion. Then my hand injury, making it hard to play properly anyway. Who would have thought turning a tap off could be so dangerous? It can feel like the world is out to get me. A hand injury, then getting a headache during my singing lesson, so I can't do that either. Getting bronchitis earlier this year felt very much the same, like someone was out to get me. So seriously, what next?

Maybe I think too negatively and that also affects my situation. But sometimes it does truly feel like I have too much bad luck. And my pen's playing up, too, like I'm having to force the words out. But I have other pens; it's just that I prefer this one. Maybe, in the same way, I have other chances; it's just that I prefer the ones I've chosen.

When things do get me down perhaps I should look at what I do have and the opportunities, instead of always looking at the negative things, even if they do shout louder. There are still so many things that I can still do, despite the disabilities. Like now, sitting here, with a headache, with a pen that intermittently stops working, still able to tell my tale, even though no one yet knows.

Written this evening whilst waiting for the bus

More Than Just Living

Sometimes I live for living’s sake. Sometimes I carry on without realising what’s truly important. But what is important? The daily grind, housekeeping, the things that have to be done? Or the things that we deep inside truly want to do or be? Of course, we all have responsibilities, but does that mean that we have to shut ourselves off from the things that make us truly feel alive?

Life is complicated. Life is painful. All those emotions that you just shut away because you lost touch with yourself somewhere along the way. The deep emotions, the reminders of who you truly are and what you must be.

True living is allowing yourself to feel all those emotions, positive and negative, and being able to say through that, ‘I know myself and accept who I am.’

But I don’t know myself, because I’ve tried too long to fit in and be something that others have told me I should be. My body has tried to tell me the truth, but I still shut it off, even now at my furthest point. I just didn’t want to be alone, but it made me feel more alone than ever.

It’s time to start listening to myself again.