However, the top of mind question beckons me to wonder if we are actually using social media as a means to an end...the grand end that is. Before you read on, know that this post is going to uncover some deathly insights that I possess and feel you should be abreast of, lest the Mayan's were right.
Social networking has becoming a
fast evolving bacteria or living organism, that’s growing with your content for
sustenance. In essence, a reflection of you, but the Spiderman and Venom kind
of reflection. Remember, Venom still had a human side, which allowed him to
differ from Carnage because he was able to feel pity and human emotion. He was
the crossroad between Spiderman and Carnage – the ultimate devourer of
everything, including its own reflection.
Are we going to go on like this
every day, without looking at the bigger picture; the space outside of the cell
walls, to see what’s up and how the weather is turning out for the rest us?
Death is the only inevitable
thing we know. Sorry to sound morbid, but it’s actually more factual than your
human emotions give you credit for. It’s your Achilles heel, a crutch you’re
born with and the fact that you cannot beat it is somehow demoralizing. So, we
try and compensate with alternative means of ‘getting through it all’. Let’s
face it, we are all afraid of it in one way or another, even if it’s with
degrees of separation; we need to do the most we can in this life because, hey,
I haven’t seen any postcards from either hell or heaven. Frankly, because I
think people are free to believe what they will, while abiding by the common
overlapping laws of all your major religions and faiths:
1. Don’t
steal
2. Don’t
kill
3. Don’t
sleep with your neighbors daughter, mother, wife, father, son, dog, whatever
4. Don’t
lie
5. Don’t
hoard
6. Don’t
overeat
7. Give
generously
8. Live
humbly
9. Basically,
try and be an all-round nice guy or girl or +1+
I think that it’s sort of like
what I call the ‘Howard Stern Effect’. I hope no one else owns rights to that
term because when you hear it, you’ll be pretty impressed too. If you’ve
watched private parts, a movie that is Howard’s biography – up to before he
became a space cadet with Syrius Satellite Radio (no offence guys – great work
taking it up a notch), you’ll know where I’m heading. The movie leads to one
simple question that explains it all, yet, still a question: “Why are his
ratings going up?” The answer, simple.
You take a group of people who are exposed, learned, traveled, well cared for,
etc., you get a bunch of people who are driven by curiosity. But, when you take
another group that is conservative, doesn’t go out after 9, stays close to the
neighborhood, teach their kids the good word of the Lord, are not good friends
with change, and generally avoid any contact with sunlight or people, you get a
bunch of people who are driven by curiosity. The only difference between the
two (yes there is one) is that they are looking into the same peephole from
opposite sides – both curious to find out more by either looking for it or
hiding from it. Even to hide, you need to know what it is you’re hiding from,
thus the need to seek out, even while hiding. Ironic. It’s because, everyone is
curious to know what he’s going to do next.
 |
| Borrowed from Jay Dolan |
We are going to die, and before
doing so, need to ensure that we leave a mark on this world, this life of ours
and the people we befriend, love, hate or just want to keep close by – simply
because we don’t know when it’s going to happen. Funny – another synchronized
effort by yours truly to make a point – we need to leave behind a legacy, a
will, a saying or an action that will help the world remember us when we are
gone.
I think that it’s actually sad,
because we end up missing a lot of the basic point – social media is just
another way for you and me to interact, communicate and essentially be comfortable
around one another’s presence because it’s easier, no complications, no
commitments and most importantly, it’s freaking free! Everyone loves free
stuff, I know I do! But then when it’s free, how can we give it so much value?
It’s like putting a price tag on air, except air has value because you need it.
Nicotine – another great example of addiction and how it’s pretty bad for your
health. I say this while smoking to my lung’s demise. It’s sad, I know…now get
over it.
My wife is practical. I love my
wife, she is awesome. She cooks me the most amazing meals, she works a full
time job, she is a world-class artist and yet she makes all this time to take
care of me. I don’t force her, heck I can’t. She’s stubborn as a mule, but
that’s what I love most. She is unwavering and pretty much independent in
decision making. This makes her among the most powerful humans alive; someone
who is so in control of their destiny has mastered the art of living.
It’s our nirvana and here you all
are trying so hard to find it. It’s right there dude; look around, inside,
outside, over here. You’re living the dream baby, so wake up and, like the lady
said, go smell the roses. Take a minute for yourself, and without needing to
see how you’ll do. No one’s really keeping score and you probably would forget
too, if you realized how insignificant it really is in the larger scheme of
things.
She isn’t on social media. I
mean, she was, still even has some presence, but could care two shits about
what’s happening there, when she’s all the way here. She figured that since
social media is exactly that thing cave men did before language was really
born, and just oooh oooh aaah aaah’d their way to evolution. She only needs to
focus on what she wants and that’s quite ample to be satiated by. How simplistic
indeed. I need my social media like a fat kid needs a diet! Wait, that doesn’t
make sense. It’s like a double negative. I meant skinny…never mind. The point
is that I can’t get enough of my asynchronous personality on Facebook or
twitter or Google plus or Orkut. Did I miss any of the big kahunas out?
Probably, who cares – point is I’m uber connected. Go to my about.me page and
you’ll see how much of an eager social beaver I am. This is my job, it pays my
bills and I actually kind of love it. I smoke too, which means I have two
addictions I think are good for me, but the question is…are they?
Ask yourself – how much of
yourself are you willing to give to yourself to see more of yourself? And what
marathon mission would you have accomplished in ending up the same as me 100
years from now? First thing is that you need to avoid comparing this like with
everyone in history was important for us to get to where we are now. I
completely agree! However, I also think that in this ‘time space continuum, we
are actually just floating from one convenience, happenstance or action to
another, while trying to make sense of it all.
We keep asking that question, how
the hell did we really happen? Darwin? Big Bang? Space rejects from another
planet? Or maybe it was a giant fart in space that reacted with all the
darkness molecules. No not the big bang.
Don’t ask the question, answer it
with your actions and stop worrying so much about the future or your fate. I
sincerely believe that whatever happens, happens. Whether we can control it or
not is all relative and personal. Since you can’t control it, you talk about it
online and document your entire life saga in an immaterial, yet infinite
moleskin notebook. I never kept a diary, but then my wife doesn’t smoke either,
so there must be a correlation in there somewhere.
The only thing certain in life is
change. Embrace it. Don’t hunt it or shy from it.
