The One About Social Media (Yes, I said it.)

I feel like the biggest hypocrite on the planet for typing these words, but here they are. 

Story: I saw Moms' Night Out (which I have opinions about, but for this sake, I'll keep it short and sweet) and watched this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtvPlFty1rE) and this one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dLU6fk9QY) and listened to my Pastor's sermon, and can you say CONVICTION from all of those places, cuz I certainly can. The conviction has to do with social media.

And THEN I got to thinking, which is never a good idea.

Why can't a hobby be what it is anymore: just that, a hobby? I don't care that you read a book with a cup of tea. I don't care that you ran 15.6 miles on Saturday morning. I don't care that you're planting a garden. What I really care about is that YOU care about what you're doing.

That's really it, isn't it? All of this social media junk is us searching for validation. Well, wanting to know how many "likes" we get on Facebook or how many hearts we get on Instagram (is that what those little things are called? I never got into that) is a pretty crummy place to get it. And hey, like I said, I'm right there with the rest of the world. The moment I think of a funny thing, I want to put it on Facebook or Twitter and have people realize how funny I am. (Winky face.) But, seriously, is that what we're driven to? That we don't have the time or the energy or the guts anymore to actually tell someone, "Hey. Yeah, what you're doing is awesome. You're going to impact the world in great ways," or, "Hey. What you're going through is crazy hard. No one should go through what you're going through, and I'm sorry," or, "OHMYGOSHI'MSOEXCITEDFORYOU." Okay, you get the drift.

Is this some crazy, mixed up unending circle?! Can we break a link in the circle and stop the cyclical effect? (I like that word.)

Don't find validation from the superficial. Find it in real conversations with real people.

And yes, I realize the irony of putting this into the great cosmic universe that is the world wide web. But hey, I'm gonna do something about it. I'm gonna unplug and enjoy life for all of the crazy, mixed up, awesome moments that it is. And if people only hear it come from my mouth instead of from a scroll on their Smart phone, I'm okay with that. And if my Facebook page becomes obsolete (because yes, I'll still keep it) and if my Twitter page drops down to 2 followers, but I enjoy life more and maintain a shred of privacy in this information-overload generation, I'm okay with that too. After all...

;)

So, feel the sun kissing your face but don't feel like you owe the world a status about how great it is. Tell someone about it later. Enjoy time with friends without feeling like you need to upload pictures about what you did. Because if you do just sit and soak it all up, you're finding confidence in you being you, being in the exact place you're supposed to be in at that exact moment. Realize life for what it is, and fill yourself up. Drink it in, and then let it ooze out to others. In person.