Truer words were never spoken. So write something already. Write. Just write. That’s what I always tell myself. Write something. Write anything.

But it’s hard. Hard to find time and hard to find the reason to write. At least, that’s also what I tell myself. Not enough time. Not sure what to write. The reason of course is simple. It’s a lie. I attach too much meaning to the words I write. They’re not that important. They’re not even tangible. Just 1’s and 0’s that will be written to a cloud based instance of my silly little WordPress.

I’m already feeling a little bit better. I’ve written words. Words which maybe one or two people will see – including myself. But I didn’t do this for you. I did this for me. And already, it’s starting to help. In fact I think I’ll celebrate with a bourbon. Here’s to writing…again.

Changing gears…

The recent election has affected me profoundly, in ways I’m still just starting to work out. The morning after the election, I posted the following to Facebook:

Seek to understand, and then to be understood. Then, buy a paid subscription to the NY Times or Washington Post. If you can, buy two. There’s a reason why the framers of our democracy included freedom of the press in the first amendment. Trust me on this one. Stop getting your news from Facebook. Seek facts to inform your decisions and not just to affirm your opinions. Have a real conversation with someone you disagree with and don’t just shut them out. Do it for me. I’m the guy who knows how your wifi router works so maybe I know what I’m talking about. Then again, I might be an INTJ high functioning sociopath who’s batshit crazy. Who knows. Here’s what I do know, I’m going to sign off Facebook for a really really really long time. 

And so I did. I deleted the FB app from my phone and iPad. Logged out of FB on my Mac, and turned off notifiations. It wasn’t premeditated. It was the opposite. It was unexpected. I really like Facebook. And just to be clear, I didn’t quit social media. I think people who “quit” social media like the smell of their own farts. Social media is woven into the fabric of our society, kind of like Walking Dead. You can’t ignore it. Well, you could, but you might as well move to the Northwest Territory and live in a wooden shack with no electricity or running water. No, I just need to reboot. I need to take a step back and re-examine…well, everything.

Btw, I did buy a subscription to the Times, Post, and the Economist just for good measure. I can’t fully articulate why I felt this was important. But I’m certain (or at least I hope) my high school English and Civics teachers would be proud.

Spending less time on social media has been good for me. I’ve been spending my mornings and evenings reading – books, magazines, tech blogs, the Federalist Papers, and of course the news…the real news. Btw, it turns out that ‘Nationalism’ is pandemic. Get ready to start hearing the term ‘Frexit’. AI is advancing at a frightening pace. The stock market hit record record record highs today. And I also just read that Man landed on the moon! I guess I have a lot of catching up to do. But I like where this is headed.

Control+Alt+Delete

Happy Rebooting.