Social Media?

As with most folks, I am involved in Social Media. I have had Myspace and Facebook and other social sites that I have used over the years, and for the most part, I enjoyed using them. As I have gotten older, I cut back to using just one. I think the main reason is, that I have realized how valuable time actually is. I had to ask myself, "Do I really need 3 social sites and 3 profiles and 3 accounts to keep up with?" My answer was a definite, "no." Initially when social media first hit the scene, I was like everyone else. I wanted to see what the big deal was, be seen and have something to do with my time. Over the years my priorities shifted, my likes and dislikes changed and so did the things around me. Myspace was my first social network of choice.

Back when Myspace first was introduced it was a platform for networking with new people, finding old friends and making posts about average things you were doing. Not like anyone really cared, but it was still cool at the time. After a few years, I began to mess around with HTML and making custom Myspace pages. I got really good at creating these visually awesome pages that my friends would flock to see. In fact, I even had a thing where I would ask my friends to give me a theme challenge. Over night I would come up with one of their theme ideas. I made themes from Star Wars to the Muppets with raining icons, sparkles, sound and so on. It got to where people loved my pages I created so much that they began to ask me to make a custom page for them. For a couple of years I did just that. A few people got wind of it whom I didn't know and offered to PAY me for my services. It was great! I must have had over 100,000 images downloaded on my computer just FOR that purpose of making custom pages. Facebook showed up on the scene. I was not impressed. There was no way of customizing your page and making it unique and full of visual bling. I passed on subscribing to Facebook for that reason, too boring. More time passed and I found a lot of my people were disappearing. At long last, I joined Facebook and to my chagrin, my lost people were there.

I also found that a lot of my lost family members were on Facebook and had been since its inception. I was thrilled and still am to this day that I was able to finally track some of them down and start reconnecting. Growing up, I rarely got to see any of my northern cousins that were on my Dad's side of the family. 20 years went by after Grandma's funeral before I was able to actually see just one of my cousins and meet his wife. Social media has allowed me to reconnect with a lot of my family with whom I have had little contact for years. We have not seen each other in decades but we are a lot closer now thanks to social media. There is a lot of good that can come out of this type of medium and I don't think anyone will disagree with that. There also can be a lot of unnecessary junk associated though too. Breaking it down into pros and cons I would put it like this:

Pros:  Reconnecting with people

          Meeting new people with common interests

          Having that immediate notification from someone who may need something

          The ability to share important things across the country and the world in seconds

           that would otherwise take forever via snail mail or even email.

           Forums and pages available to educate you more readily

           Being able to share links to Youtube and see the videos play within your page.

Cons:  Negative people

           Drama on your page

           Content that you do not  approve of ( granted you can hide that now as an option )

            Spying factor into your personal business by others and entities

These are just a few examples but for me the good outweighs the bad. I have asked a few people in my network, who reads every single post?  I have also been asked, how do you respond to bad news people share? Do you hurriedly just click LIKE or do you take a minute to comment?  With the involving yourself in social media of any kind, there are responsibilities. You are so exposed to people's lives, intimate details, trials, victories and such that you have to gauge how to respond to them all. My general rule of thumb has served me well. If I see a comment or post that reports bad news, or illness, I take a second and post something instead of just clicking the LIKE button. I admit, I do not read every single post that is put on my page. I scan. The ones that look interesting I will look at more intently. The ones that I just want to shake my head over, I either come back to later or just ignore. Does this mean that I am insensitive? I think not. Everyone has to manage his or her time the best way they can. Some folks have the time to sit online all day and makes posts, comments and share funny things. Others do not. 

One truth that we can not ignore is that when time is gone IT IS GONE! You can never get it back. In our modern technological age, via smart phones and tablets we can easily receive and manage our emails, social media, tweets and so on in a matter of minutes or seconds. For that I am grateful. Like anyone else though, I have to keep in check, how much "time" am I taking on keeping up with everything. Time management for some is a lost cause while for others it is something they feed on and excel at. I am in the latter category. Look, I would have to say that I enjoy technology as much as the next guy, but there is something to be said for simplicity too. Take a little time and examine how much of your time could be spent elsewhere and what benefit that could afford you, then make a conscious effort to step back a bit from emails and tweets and commenting if you need to. I promise you that the world will go on just fine without you for a few hours or even a few days. I have a couple of friends who take breaks from social networking and emails for a season. During those times when they walk away from it all, or even some of it, they tend to find renewal. Renewal of mind, clarity, sense of purpose and are able to better focus on what lies ahead. Consider doing this. Like I said, friends may miss your LOL's or OMG's or smileys, but both you and they will survive. 

Thank you for taking some of your valuable time to read this blog post. I wish you well this week and until next time, check out for a few days! I just might do the same. 

Can I Help You?

Wow, what a simple question that packs so much punch! Most people when asked, "Can I help you?" have to think two things. One, do I NEED help, and who are YOU to help me? I've been an avid film watcher for years. In college, my degree was, in part, in film production. I love a good movie. I don't think there is a person alive that does not appreciate a good drama or an innocent love story or just a movie about hope and change. Well, there have been a good number of movies that offer good messages and messages of renewal and hope over the past 20 years. On the flip side though, there have been a great majority of films that denigrate humanity, endorse violence, drug use, and outright are devoid of anything positive. I want to share 3 films with you briefly. My initial question, Can I help you, has ties to each of these movies, but not in obvious ways. Let's look at...................Benny and Joon first off.

The basic irony of the movie is that Joon, who has a mental illness, is not fit to live alone, and doesn't really cope well with change or everyday things outside of her simple routine. Her brother takes care of her, often sheltering her from new things, being very protective of her. Well, through a series of unusual events, Sam enters the picture. Sam is very eccentric. He has been hugely influenced by the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. He is out of the box in every way, odd yet very creative and engaging IN his own kind of way.  Over the course of the movie it becomes apparent that both Joon and Sam NEED each other. Although it is never asked, Can I help you, one can see that even without that direct asking, they bring something to the table that the other needs. It is awesome! Joon learns to accept new things, face challenges with Sam's help and he learns to love her AS she is. Okay, movie # 2. Remember the Titans.

I think most everyone with a pulse who enjoys movies knows something about this movie. Basically, a small town, very steeped in racist beliefs and actions, has to hire a new high school football coach. Enter the new coach, an African American man, with great family values and work ethic. He encounters opposition from day one from the other coaches on staff, the school and most of all the players. Throughout the early going in the movie, Coach Herman Boone begins to nip the whole racist element in the bud. From talks to players, opening the door to outside players becoming a part of the team, on down to cutting star players who refuse to accept change, this new coach makes waves, and big ones at that. Soon, all the players, black and white are forced to either accept each other or miss out. As the drills increase, practices get harder and harder, there is a breakthrough. The 2 star players find common ground. From here on out the Titans become cohesive and very successful. Again, it is never asked, Can I help you, but it is oh so obvious that not only Coach Boone can help them, but it is apparent and critical that the players help themselves. If you have not seen this movie, I highly recommend it. On to the third and final movie I would like to talk about. Music and Lyrics.

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I admittedly am a little biased, so I am giving this movie 2 pics! Premise: a washed up former 80's pop music star is struggling to make ends meet and make a come back of any kind. He ends up meeting a younger gal who is a temp flower girl, watering his plants in his apartment. After doing cheesy commercials and openings for nursing homes and car lots etc. Alex Fletcher gets some help, without even knowing it, from Sophie the flower girl. It seems she has an uncanny ability to come up with catchy lyrics that he soon is determined to use as he tries to foster a desire in her to become a lyricist. Series of events take place, they hit roadblocks personally, opportunities come and go for the former singer, but then a big chance presents itself front and center. She doesn't ask, Can I help you, but boy does she! Through coaxing, a collaborative effort produces a new hit for a popular singer in the current market. Sophie and Alex end up falling in love etc. etc.  The reason I wanted to touch on the whole Can I help You vibe in these movies is to make us realize that, even when we are unaware, people around us, those who cross our paths, those with whom we are close and even those whom we have yet to meet, Help us. We are given pushes, glimpses, motivations, inspirations from all kinds of places including each other. In turn, we can do the same for others.  Whether we choose to admit it or not, we all need a little help from time to time. There should be no shame needing help. The wisest men in history became wise in part in knowing when to seek help. What we as people and a society need to learn, is when to offer help and when to accept it. It takes practice in both respects. We won't be "the right kind of helpful" the first time or two out. We won't be "the right kind of accepting" the first time or two we receive help either. As you go about your days, look for opportunity to offer an encouraging word, an idea. As you face struggles or times when you question yourself or your abilities, look around you. I bet the right help is staring you in the face. Don't be so persnickety as to not accept it! Carpe Diem! Seize this day!

Wrong?

Okay guys, it has been a while since I have been able to write a new post. I apologize. Sometimes life throws things at you that simply cannot be avoided or put on the back burner. Today's post will be short and simple but with a powerful message for thought.

How many times have we done things that we were convinced was right and in actuality it might not have been? This could be morally, physically, emotionally or even just acts in our every day world. Recently I came across a video by total happenstance that really hit home with me. I think most of us have heard of Mike Rowe. He has been the host of Dirty Jobs that airs on the Discovery Channel since its inception. The premise, for those who do not know, is that Mr. Rowe goes out in all parts of our country and becomes an apprentice for a day, doing the dirtiest, nastiest, and often most difficult and taxing jobs that there are in any workplace. He was shoveled chicken poop from under breeding houses, crawled into tiny spaces to blast out smut from boilers and furnaces and has even done things way more bizarre in the eye of the average man or woman. I always enjoy watching this program. Not only is the viewer made aware of the types of dirty jobs out there but also it sheds a light on the importance of them in the sustainability of our nation as a whole.

Growing up, my Dad "taught" me the right way to sweep. This was his opinion obviously and he was darn set in it being the best way. I guess being the stubborn kid I was, or perhaps just the fact that I like to think outside of the box, I found another way. I would hold the broom with hands opposite of tradition. For me it made more sense. It is difficult to explain just what that means here, but my point is, in my mind, my Dad was wrong. As I grew into an adult and used brooms a lot over the years, I came to the understanding that neither of us were really wrong. The adage, there is more than one way to skin a cat, applies. With regulations and OSHA and other red tape installments, many things that our ancestors did, and did with great success, now are not permissible. Away from tasks, I think we have all crossed the line when it comes to morally doing something we KNEW was wrong. On the other hand, I also think that we have done things morally that we didn't actually KNOW were wrong until much later in life. We have been a party to and also a victim of emotional wrongs as well. We have slighted people and have been stabbed in the back. Another angle to this is also the fact that so many famous persons have fallen prey to steroid use and abuse for example.. It is wrong, it is cheating and it does not pay off in the end. It also leads to physical, mental and emotional difficulties.

Morally, ethically, and physically, steroid use, even in a legal instance, is questionable. But back to the issue of every day, generic tasks. When we drive our vehicles, we know we shouldn't eat and text and smoke and drink and fard and chat on the cell phone while we are driving, yet we do it anyway. Wrong.....Wrong choices that often results in the right consequence, tragic as it may be. Getting back to Mike Rowe. As I said, I happened across a related video that came up after reading a response he had written to someone who asked of him the way to find your dream job. Excellent article and response by the way. In the video I reference, Mr. Rowe is at a TED conference as a key speaker. I had often thought him to be a very smart, educated, hard working individual. Well, after watching this video, I felt, well, somewhat dumber. His mastery of the English language, his nomenclature, delivery and reasoning blew me away. As a quick synopsis of his talk, he covers how in doing the show Dirty Jobs he didn't really think about the jobs he was asked to do or give much credence to the individuals that do them daily. It was as if he had an epiphany, a clarity of reasoning and thought. I am going to try and insert the link to his video and hope that it works. I encourage you to watch it. Whether you are a white collar, blue collar, or other type of worker, his message will apply to you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRVdiHu1VCc


After watching it twice now, for me it has made me aware of two things. One is that hard work is never a bad thing. and two, that without hard work we as a people often lose track of what is really important. When you can pick up dead carcasses on the roadway and whistle while you do it, that says something. It says you are content in what you are doing. It also says that even if you don't like the job you have, your attitude can most assuredly affect it in a positive way. In closing, watch the video. Watch other videos that Mike Rowe is involved with. He is a breath of fresh air in an often dirty world. We all need a gut check from time to time. Don't be afraid to admit that you may have been wrong or that you are wrong. People far wiser than we, in the grand scope of things, do know a thing or two that we can choose to learn from.