I had an exchange with an old classmate yesterday on Facebook. This is a person I have known since childhood but not since adulthood. A lot of that has happened since the introduction of the internet and social media. Overall I think this social media stuff is wonderful. It has made the world a smaller place as a great deal of our technology has done over the years. I'd say it started with those cave drawings and has progressed from that point. Soon we were writing and the introduction of books. Each step bringing people closer together, sharing their understanding of the world around them. Clans formed, communities grew, and before we knew it nations rose. For ages the world then became wide and mysterious to us, only a little knowledge was spread to the masses. That knowledge wasn't available to the common man, no, the common man was too busy trying to survive. Life was a struggle. But the internet has made us all feel a bit more connected. There is talk of a global community. Interestingly many folks are starting to turn back to nature searching for answers. They want to go back to a time when the " clan " cared for each other, a communal society. Well, as long as it doesn't have anyone that is the outright leader that is. It has to be fair.
After our conversation was through I thought about that conversation. Yes we are at odds when it comes to politics. I find myself in that position a lot these days. It is not over the candidates, it is not about Trump being the president, both of those things will change over time, what it is about is policy. Much is made of the left and the right, the conservatives and the liberals, as a way to define policy. Truth is we are a mixture of all of that, or at least we should be. I have never voted the straight party line and most likely never will. Each representative is an individual, we must not lose sight of that fact. Sometimes that representative doesn't represent what I feel. I don't vote for those folks. That is the way it is supposed to work. But, I'm wandering off the subject I wanted to write about. I was talking about old friends and new strangers. That is what I encounter often while using social media. The years have changed us all, it is a natural thing. The choices we have made molding our lives. I would say the majority of us would like to go back and make a few modifications. That too, is a natural thing. The thing is this. After all the years just how do you feel about it all ?
That is what I take away from these interactions I have with these old friends and new strangers. I do get a sense of what they are feeling about their lives. In the case of the latest discussion I feel this person is just disappointed. I think that is how he/she feels about life. Disappointment. Oh, not so much disappointment in the way their personal life turned out, but in what the world has turned out to be. Some people were expecting something totally different. Reality has just smacked them in the face and they are incredulous ! These folks will never accept the truth and insist upon changing reality. They remind me of Don Quixote, noble in their pursuit, but unaware of reality. As for me I try my best to follow the advice of Marcus Aurelius " Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart. " The world is not here to adapt to you, you must adapt to the world.
After our conversation was through I thought about that conversation. Yes we are at odds when it comes to politics. I find myself in that position a lot these days. It is not over the candidates, it is not about Trump being the president, both of those things will change over time, what it is about is policy. Much is made of the left and the right, the conservatives and the liberals, as a way to define policy. Truth is we are a mixture of all of that, or at least we should be. I have never voted the straight party line and most likely never will. Each representative is an individual, we must not lose sight of that fact. Sometimes that representative doesn't represent what I feel. I don't vote for those folks. That is the way it is supposed to work. But, I'm wandering off the subject I wanted to write about. I was talking about old friends and new strangers. That is what I encounter often while using social media. The years have changed us all, it is a natural thing. The choices we have made molding our lives. I would say the majority of us would like to go back and make a few modifications. That too, is a natural thing. The thing is this. After all the years just how do you feel about it all ?
That is what I take away from these interactions I have with these old friends and new strangers. I do get a sense of what they are feeling about their lives. In the case of the latest discussion I feel this person is just disappointed. I think that is how he/she feels about life. Disappointment. Oh, not so much disappointment in the way their personal life turned out, but in what the world has turned out to be. Some people were expecting something totally different. Reality has just smacked them in the face and they are incredulous ! These folks will never accept the truth and insist upon changing reality. They remind me of Don Quixote, noble in their pursuit, but unaware of reality. As for me I try my best to follow the advice of Marcus Aurelius " Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart. " The world is not here to adapt to you, you must adapt to the world.
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