I was out in the yard. Cool late Spring day in May. This is the South so Summer's bearing down. But, today there's a breeze and a hint of a chilly morning on the way. Once the humidity and the heat settles in I won't see a day where I could use a windbreaker before late October and possibly into December depending on the weather flow.
Been walking my mind to an easy time. My back turned towards the sun...James Taylor
But right now I pull my cap a little lower to shade the Spring Sun and feel a cool breeze urging me to find a sunny spot as the day grows late.
I get a Twitter alert on my phone. Now I'm a 60 plus year old boomer. I don't have an internet presence and I don't have hundreds of followers. Nobody worries about my buying habits as far as pop culture goes. I've aged out. But I still know how to follow my favorite sports teams. I check the news on my tablet and I follow certain authors and I enjoy paranormal Facebook and Twitter news along with YouTube.
I glance at my Twitter feed and I see "she's a liar." I'm a little shocked because I'm having a peaceful moment. Cindy is out of town and when one of us is out on the road we keep our phones near just in case the car breaks down or there is some need. Otherwise I might not have my phone with me. I do leave it on rare occasions. Especially when I need a quiet moment.
Everybody's talking at me. I can't hear a word they're saying. Only the echoes of my mind...Nilsson
But it's on now and Twitter is letting me know that a dude who disagrees politically with a dudette is calling her a liar. There is of course link after link to back him up. He can recite chapter and verse why his adversary is evil. I yawn and clear my feed.
Not because I don't have an opinion. I got plenty of them. You're welcome to them. All you gotta do is ask. But, I hardly ever give them these day's. Because these day's people are "Big Mad!" They pounce and people named Rachel and Tucker and Donald and Hillary are the truth bearers. The issues can be diminished to Left vs right. Conservative vs liberal. Black vs white. Male vs female.
Boy you better get on one side or the other...Eagles
Just choose a lane and a cause and you will be provided with marching orders. Us vs them. Take no prisoner's. Yell libtard, racist, inbred. Yell baby killer, Nazi. That way you don't have to listen for understanding. You just kick butt and Take names.
Here's the thing before you think I'm just an out of touch boomer. People aren't worse now than they were back in the day. It's just that back in the day everybody didn't have the microphone. Networks reported the news 30 minutes 5 nights a week. To find out everybody's past you had to research at the library.
It wasn't better. It was just a little less in your face. People weren't kinder. They just were not as consistently furious the way they are now.
Hey you! Get off of my cloud!...Rolling Stones
I love technology. I used to carry a book if I got bored. A guitar tuner when I broke a string.I needed a dictionary when I didn't know a word. I had to wait for a song on the radio and I had no idea when my favorite group would release a new album. I had no recourse if I missed a tv show or a sporting event.
I didn't have a blog to vent or an online group to share interest with. Now I can reach in my pocket and there is my music player, guitar tuner, book, dictionary, instant message from a friend in Europe, football, baseball and basketball games and scores and classic rock songs and performances all on one device! Movies and tv shows and social media of long lost classmates, friends and relatives interaction with writer's, scientist and performers that I'd never meet in regular ole life.
took the blows and did it my way...Sinatra
Still. I'm glad 17, 18 and 19 year old Steve wasn't caught on Facebook back in the 1970's. Because I've made a few mistakes in my life. I'm not ashamed of much. But, I'm glad some 25 year old social justice warrior or evangelical can't pull up pictures and video. Because I've lived a life. I've been stoned, drunk and drugged. I've been to the church alter and I've been to bars. I've lived a life.
Shirley Mclaine who I happen to like and admire although your milage May vary. Once wrote a book in her old age saying "I'm over all that." she then listed several things that she used to argue and fuss about. But in her older years she just didn't have the energy to spend on trying to convince people that they were wrong.
You don't have to attend every argument to which you're invited...Buddhist saying
I feel something similar now. Recently I've noticed that I just don't have the energy anymore to try and manipulate people to see things my way. I also see holes in my own arguments that I honestly didn't see a few years ago.
I haven't changed my opinion on certain political and religious issues. I've just gotten a little less self righteous and I try to put myself in the other person's shoes. Or at least try to understand they wake up in their own skin everyday and their journey is different than mine. Not better. Not worse. Just different.
I wonder sometimes what the world will be in 20 Or 30 years. I'm at that age now Where I either won't be here or will be so old it won't personally matter to me. I mean I'll be somewhere. I just don't know if it will be in this world.
I know where I came from and where I am going...Jesus
I think I've done this before. I'm not sure. but I highly suspect it. I know where ever I come from and where ever I'm headed is more real and I'm more able to be myself than I am here. So give yourself room to be Human. Give other's the same room.
I didn't come here and I ain't leaving...Willie Nelson
I don't know if life is planned or not. I tend to think we are here for a purpose but it's not a one size fits all world. Stuff happens! I'm just trying to leave more good vibes than bad.
Peace
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