I hope you had a Happy Halloween. I got into the spirit of it with the local jack-o-lantern spectacular. It inspired me to carve quite a large smile on my seasonal squash's face. Scraping his insides felt very cleansing for myself. I've been sorting through what matters and what doesn't. October has been one of my busiest months with me gadding about, out in the real world more and staying behind the screen less, well some of that was not my doing but rather the doing of my late laptop.
I have this last week been rather skeptical of social media. It is a siren song to see what everybody is up to. The algorithms are designed to be addictive. I've been drawn in a few times. However I'm waking up more and more to the fact that Facebook isn't real. It's been a realization a long time coming. It started a few years ago attending a party which in my mind seemed less like a party and more like a photo shoot for social media. "Look at us, aren't we having fun? Don't you wish your life was like ours?"
This past year and a half social media has been a minefield of political confrontation. It was nonstop outrage and yet it felt wrong to unplug because of the idea that I had to stay informed. Well I can say my 12 day break didn't leave me feeling uniformed, but it did bring me a sense of peace and rhythm that I had forgotten about. I felt so much lighter. I spent time talking to people undistracted, truly listening. I have begun and continue to purge my social media feeds of most of the inflammatory posts. It is not me sticking my head in the sand. I just realized I didn't want to have outrage on a constant loop. I make decisions that aren't well thought out when I am outraged. I wonder if that is the real point to keep people outraged and divided while the powerful raid the coffers, to keep people afraid so that they vote for more brutal responses in order to feel safe.
Why am I telling you this? Well I am lucky to have good people around me. I am lucky to have had the benefit of multiple perspectives due to the trait of never quite fitting in with any one place. I am lucky to have the sight of radiant autumn leaves outside my bedroom window to see, rather than just photos on a computer screen. I am lucky to know the difference between glamour and life.
What about you? Are you walking in a daze convinced that your screen is reality? Do you know the difference between sitting in a room together and being together? Do you remind yourself that people's social media feed is a carefully crafted illusion meant to portray a story of a life rather than an actual life. Does your inner world take more from your screen or more from your daily habits and interactions with the people you love? What if you scrubbed your screen so that it really was a vehicle of connection? What if you made it back into the tool? What if you connected with people face to face and let photo opportunities slide so that you could be completely present. Seeing life through a lens separates us from that life, what if you gave yourself permission to live that life rather than just document it?
Peace and Blessings.
Thomas Mooneagle
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