Truth.
I never thought that I would be in the position that I am in.
The position where I need to find my voice again. The position where I need to find unbiased truth again.
Which is why I am beginning this blog.
I had been on facebook since 2007, just recently deleting it and walking away. I am actually within my 30 day "if you change your mind" phase. I have read, however, that it doesn't ever really go away even though FB promises to delete permanently after 90 days. We shall see.
In the course of deleting, I wanted to make sure that I saved any posts that I found profound. What I ended up finding was that for the first few years there were a lot of "I don't feel good" posts but I realized that it was actually anxiety manifesting itself as I was going through a very difficult time during my facebook infancy. I did find some posts worth saving though.
Facebook was an escape. It was a way to pretend that I was a part of the real world without really having to socialize. It was and is an excuse not to talk to people, not to truly interact. It is the introverts dream. I thought it would be a great way to stay in touch with my long distance friends and to share my thoughts, my life, anything I wanted.
I am beginning to see that social media was probably the worse thing that could have happened to us as a people.
As the years went by I started posting political things, religious things, my personal opinion about events happening. There were occasional debates on certain topics but I didn't post those things all the time. I was pretty tame compared to some. Then big things started to happen around the world-gun debates, gay marriage/prop 8, Obama elected president, women's marches, my body my choice, to build a wall or not build a wall etc. That was just the beginning of a downward spiral and more and more we began to be polarized and voices began to fall silent just like mine.
I began to find that more and more I wasn't posting certain things because I didn't want to offend my friends. I started having my posts revolve around whether or not it would cause a stir or how would this person feel if I posted this. I even at one time promised one of my friends that I wouldn't post anything religious if he would accept my friend request. Needless to say, we are no longer friends. This was due to a debate he had no business commenting on but found he needed to because he decided I was too closed minded and needed to lecture me.
I eventually started posting religious things only on Sunday but politically I was still pretty silent. There were times I would just have to say something or I would burst but I was still in the mindset of 'don't offend'.
I wouldn't even like pages or follow people that had any political leanings because I didn't want people to know what I was watching or liking. I came to realize though, that those people that I didn't want to offend, had absolutely no problem offending me.
Then, SARS-CoV-2 hit and the world lost its collective mind. A switch was flipped and left on. In truth, it's a switch that's been flipping on and off over the last few decades but those were just warm ups to what we are experiencing now.
Wisdom, discernment, logic have gone out the window. People that I thought would be able to see through the half-truths fed to us all of sudden were falling in line like good little lemmings with their slogans of:
"I'm doing my part to keep you safe"
"We are in this together"
"I'm part of the problem so I'll be part of the solution"
"Trump bad"
Everyone putting the little, made just for this moment, black box on their social profiles as though that really meant something and chastising their friends who didn't.
Social media is toxic to the human condition.
I want to find that flipped switch and disable it. Maybe just maybe we have a chance to save ourselves.
I'm glad I deleted my Facebook. It didn't seem that anyone was hearing me anyway as the same 2 people consistently liked what I posted no matter what it was. Frankly, I realized how much I didn't care anymore. If I was worth anyone's time in real life, then those people would remain my friends outside of FB.
I am free and I hope that I can use this blog truly as a way to express not only my opinion about certain things but also a way to present plain facts. When we see or hear anything anymore it is already edited and interpreted for us.
Do your research! Don't react first and think later. If something doesn't make sense, 9 times out of 10, it's not true. One fact and six lies does not constitute truth.
Don't trade one blindness for another.
