I choose....

So today's blog is inspired by my dear friend Grace Kay, who is probably the most persistently positive person I know! :-)
It's friends like her that I cherish and that I miss...

By far I've realized how much I enjoy blogging...And how much more sane it is, compared to social networking sites...which seem to be the epicenter of drama itself.
Social networking has its benefits...
It keeps me connected to my near and dear ones....And has reconnected me with people who life's circumstances caused the distance, not choice.
It's made me meet new exciting people.......
And enabled me to forge new genuine friendships.

But..........
It's become a real nagging feeling that I've been having sharing my world with close to 400 people at a go...
Sharing myself with all these people in a probably more intimate way that I would ever do in person....
Social networking has really obscured the lines of personal space....
In fact they are obliterated.
People who hardly know you, now feel ultra comfortable commenting on aspects of your life....however mundane.....at free will.
Of course the naysayers (and I confess am one of them) will often say, people can only comment on what you put out there....
I accept responsibility for that....
But where do you draw the line?
Shouldn't there be a line??

There seems to be a general tendency......And this extends to the wider society........For judgement calls to  be made at free will....
Usually these judgements are private.........But in the virtual world, they become very public.
I think bottom line is, it still baffles me, that people who have little or nothing to do with you otherwise, suddenly have the urge to comment and dictate about someone while hiding behind a computer screen...

This phenomenon I've realized not only towards myself....but many others.
I personally, am not affected by people's opinions....
And that is a genuinely from the bottom of my heart statement!
I know who I am as a person....And whatever opinion people may have, never shakes me.
But it does affect other people....
When you have women going into depression because they feel socially rejected....
Or teenagers committing suicide because of cyber bullying........
People feeling judged.
People feeling unwanted.
People feeling worthless.
All due to comments, 'likes', 'dislikes', quizzes, games, posts, hearts, surveys, number of pictures, hits.......that encapsulate the world of facebook, twitter and the like.
And so it gets me to think of the detriment of social networking.

Nevertheless, I veer off on a tangent....
The blog by my friend Grace, Learning To Learn, is a perfect example of breaking through those shackles....
We live, we learn.
And I think I've done my fair bit of learning from my 'life' on social networking.
Time to cut some strings from all the drama....
Time to break away from all the forced judgements....
I prefer to live in the real world.....

 And so as I sit here and watch the trees grow back their leaves...
The amazing array of colours in nature....
The magnificence of God's creation....
As the sun sets.....
And listening to birds twitter away......
I know what I choose.
I choose happiness. :-)