October 2, 2013
I had originally intended to update this blog on my family life, with our adventures & trips, most especially our outdoor/nature-type escapades, but I've recently come to realize that it is hard work updating a blog, on a regular basis. I can definitely see how this would be called 'work' for a lot of people! I just can't do it.
Maybe it is out of my own dislike for watching people stay glued to their phones throughout the day, no matter what they are doing (even while walking), or my "favorite", while they are WITH their child (ren) & leaving others around them to have a panic attack every time they come close to either falling or ingesting a dangerous object.
Yeah. Highly annoying.
I have also recently made a lifestyle change by omitting my social media apps from my phone. It was too much. We already have enough distractions as it is. Here's my deal.
I have three babies. A 7-year old, a 5-year old & a 9-month old. If THEY alone do not take up ALL my time, then I am pretty sure that there is no place for social (DISTRACTION) media to have any part of my time &/or attention. I still have my accounts. I may look at it one day, but the MINDLESS amount of time I used to spend scrolling through other people's posts, coupled with running to update my own with a new one here & there, 'captioning' my "masterpieces" & then.....then waiting for the 'likes'.
I think I'm over it. Really.
I mean, really folks? How many 'likes' you get is now what we are concerned about? I really am starting to believe that this is now the norm for our culture & most importantly, our generation.
It's sad.
And what's worse, some people tie their confidence & self-esteem to how many people react to their post. I mean, come on! That's ridiculous! It's just instagram! It's just facebook! I haven't had my instagram on for a little over week and it is L I B E R A T I N G.
There is NO other feeling like it.
Once I omitted this time-waster, the funny thing is, I discovered that I STILL didn't have a lot of time during the day to do things, to play with my kids (without the need to rush to my phone to snap a picture or a video & post for the ENTIRE WORLD to see).
Once I let go of the need to document every nanosecond of my life, I felt more in CONTROL & FOCUSED, MINDFUL of my interactions & conversations with the little people in my life, the ones who mattered most. Albeit, even my relationship may have gained a positive as well. ;)
It just feels like I am truly LIVING.
I am also starting to believe that the zombies of the world, that we so often talk about & portray aren't what we think they are. It is people, stuck on their phones, tablets, iPads, their social media, their bajillion apps, and all these other devices meant to take your eyes away (& your brain) from what is IN FRONT OF & ALL AROUND YOU.
People
The sky
Trees
Birds
Flowers
The Ocean
Remember those things? Yeah. How sad is it that our children know more about the brand Leap Frog instead of an actual frog? (I'm not knocking educational toys, just trying to make a point here).
And also, while I'm on a rant, I would advise that mainstream media is just as bad. If you want real news, look it up. Don't rely on just the t.v. alone to'feed' you information. They are scripted & designed to give you a limited amount of so-called knowledge.
American Idol? Distraction
The Voice? Distraction
Dancing with the stars? Yup. Distraction.
New shows? Freaking Distraction.
So. Many. Distractions. It's too much. And then we're shocked when we hear about such things as shootings, political corruption, & does anyone even know why our government shut down??! My guess would be, 'no'. Because we're too caught up in who is winning the dancing or singing competition, or what the Kardashian sisters are doing next.
We had the cable off for a good while here at the house & only had netflix & a few other networks & they were some of the best days I spent...with the television OFF! Just recently however, basic cable was re-installed & I have come to the conclusion, after browsing ALL the channels, that 95% of everything you see on t.v. is an ad. It is an outrage! And we wonder why our kids are obsessed with buying new toys, or we just 'have to have that new whatever-it-is'. The culture of spending. It's sick. I don't want to hear about your new whatever, your latest gadget, your most expensive bag or clothes blah, blah, blah. This is why we treat our things better than we do our friends or family because 'society' brainwashes us with the idea that these THINGS have more value than anything or anyone else.
How about you spend more time chasing your kids at a park rather than pushing them in the stroller to shop at the mall? How about spending your hard-earned money on fresh, healthy organic food rather than an $800 bag? What's more important?
Anyway, I'm losing my focus now because I fell asleep after putting my little ones to bed & then woke up to finish, but now it's just late. And my thoughts are all jumbled together in one big lump. Oops! Sorry.
So my point was, my time is valuable & constantly updating my life for other people to keep up with ME was bothering the hell out of me just as much as having my feed full of every little tidbit of 'what I'm doing now' or 'what my baby can do/say' from like, 200 other people.
Really?
WHO has time for all of that?!
LIVE!
BREATHE!
TAKE A WALK OUTSIDE.
WITHOUT YOUR PHONE! WITHOUT HAVING THE NEED TO IDLY LOOK AT IT WAITING FOR THE NEXT UPDATE OR NOTIFICATION.
Or not.
