So, happy new year. Decided to try a new approach. I wanted to blog my last year of teaching, but retired earlier than planned, so that didn't work. Then I though I would blog my first year of retirement, but was actually too busy to keep doing that. I am a little more accustomed to the routine now, so giving it another shot.
Something that has really dismayed me of late is the amount of negativity everywhere, but especially on Facebook. I won't give it up, as some people seem to be able to, because it is a good means to stay in touch with some people in my life who live far away. But recent experiences with some people's comments have me rethinking the way I use it.
I subscribe to a couple of feeds such as Upworthy, which share stories that are supposed to be inspirational and positive. I must first say that I have questioned a few of them in terms of their qualifying for either of those labels. But what disturbs me even more are the comments I read. People seem to have a way of finding something negative to say about anything. And then arguments start, where commenters begin to attack and insult each other. This is weird. They are people who have never met, total strangers who seem to devote hours of time to tearing each other down in cyberspace.
You might ask, then, why it read them? Good question. It is one of those "train wreck" things, I guess. I don't watch any reality tv and try to avoid negative people, but sometimes I get sucked in and just scroll and scroll, fascinated by the nastiness. It started with reading the comments generated by Lance Armstrong's posts, but that is a topic for another time.
The other day I posted a link to a site that is made up of current and former residents of my hometown, about two women who want to buy and renovate a mansion here and turn it into a day spa and wellness center. They had a listing on indiegogo.com and were asking for startup money, something I have heard about other people doing on similar sites. I just thought people might be interested and maybe someone would be inspired to help them out. The nasty, rude and sarcastic comments I got made me sick to my stomach. If you aren't interested in getting involved, fine, but you don't need to tear other people down. Many of the commenters did not seem to be aware of this type of fundraising and really said mean-spirited things. I ended up deleting my post and thinking about the whole commenting thing.
I realized that it leaves me with a really bad feeling and seriously, who needs that? So I removed some of the feeds from my Facebook profile, removed myself from groups where the negativity seems to abound and resolved (knew we'd get to that word, didn't you?) to limit my feeds to the Penguins and Pittsburgh Dad and some of the bike feeds that have good information. I also will not be reading the comments on any of the things other people share that are not their personal posts.
I am also going to try to keep up with a daily blog, mainly because it feels good to write and I need a creative outlet. I will post the link when I think of it and if you want to read my opinions and rumblings, fine. If not, finer yet. Just don't make nasty comments, except inside your head. Because the last thing the world needs is more nastiness.
And in the spirit of positivity, it was a great Icicle Bicycle ride today. We had lunch at the Hofbrau Haus with a woman who was in the ride alone and got to talk about long-distance touring, which she has never done, but wants to. And then we had dinner at my sister's, which was excellent and gave us a chance to have a great visit. So, yay to starting out the new year right.
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