I know…I know…I feel ya. I was so high on Facebook and now…no more “crackbook”. Honestly, I’m still looking for my cyberspace niche and as you can tell I’m reconstructing this blog to hopefully fit that. Shoot, I’m 40 years old and still learning new things about myself, so this follows par for me.
My deal with all this Internet “sharing-my-life” stuff, whether it be Facebook, a blog, personal website, or whatever, is if it starts to get in my way of actually living my life, then WHAT IS THE POINT? It’s like that Jeff Foxworthy bit about rednecks – “You know you’re a ”cyberjunkie” when BEFORE you pour your morning coffee you’re checking ________ (fill in the blank with your website of choice). So I’ve asked myself what is it that I CRAVE so much that words, pictures, video, and “flair” just keep me glued to the screen for hours on end? So here is what I’ve found out about me…and it may fit for you too.
Having kids now for just 7.5 months has really “exposed” my lack of time management skills. Their routines and Pearlie’s ability to stay home helps, but life does not care about the what, when, and where’s that happen on any given day. So what about my TIME?…my employer requires it, my kids need it, my wife desires it, and my other family and friends want it…and me and God were made for it. At the end of the day, one or more of those gets sacrificed and I am finding that the Internet is getting more and more of it…with or without my consent. I am powerless.
But what is it about sharing my life, funny, serious, or neither and the reading and commenting on someone else’s that gets my juices flowing. It’s the relational thing. My kids “jones” for it when I walk thru the door in the evening. My kids aren’t inhibited yet, so they grab my leg and hang on for dear life…and that’s what having “present” parents and other people in their lives gives them…life. RELATIONSHIPS are as natural as breathing. And that is what I desire as I reach out and open up to folks via social networks. What I need to remember and start practicing is that sharing on a blog will NEVER fill the God-shaped-hole that is meant for deeper and more intimate relationships that are face-to-face, current, 2-way, openminded, and honest. The Internet just can’t satisfy that, despite the creative ways it tries to replicate relationships…hence, my craving for others will never get satisfied unless I look at those folks around me and God first, and make sure those relationships are healthy before I step out and lend my heart to the electronic world and those relationships, real or imagined.
It is facinating to me how closely related TIME and RELATIONSHIPS are to each other, and at how throughout my day I find myself kicking them to the curb only to try and look for them later as my feelings warrant. They are probably 2 of my most valuable assets and they work best (they way they are suppose to) with God managing them. And the cool thing is that’s exactly what He wants to do.
So now that you’ve wasted the time to read this, what is my point and more directly what is my motivation to continue and go this route? I don’t know! I’m not even really saying l would never do Facebook again. But here is what I like and hope to share here on this blog:
1. photography – my creative juices flow the most when a shutter clicks. My only true hobby is photography…it helps me to learn to experience my life as a “chain of moments”. Most pictures will link to my Flickr site where my pictures reside.
2. my family – Pearlie (wife), Mateo (son), and Kaia (daughter) in pictures or video these 3 people crack me up. So why wouldn’t I share that?
3. and anything else relevant…my Preds, Cardinals, or whatever else tickles my fancy or better yet whatever “road” I’m traveling on a given day and the things God is showing me out the window.
Rock on friends!!!
*above photo* – Mateo and Kaia joined Pearlie and I for the last home game of the Nashville Predators. We had a blast this year watching the Preds and look forward to being loyal fans for years to come.
…and there is a difference. More on this topic via another post…but it is sooo true, as I’m finding out more each day. Mateo and Kaia are doing great. I know that’s not very specific but it is none the less true. Happy New Year to EVERYONE! I can’t imagine 2009 being any better…OK, I can, but you get my point.
