SpiderMan – DWP (Toxic) B&W Sunday

Day 91 – April 1, 2018

Happy Easter, to those of you who celebrate! Happy Sunday to all of you!  For something so happy it is a little weird to have “toxic” as today’s prompt.  Fortunately, I knew exactly where I was going to go with this.  But I also wanted it to fit in with Cee’s B&W challenge, which may be a stretch, but I figure these are all “businesses”, and as such these would be the signs they are easily recognized.  Well it works for me.  For me, especially as a teacher, I have never seen anything create such toxicity as social media.  From the minute people wake up, to the last thing they see before sleep, the addiction to social media has created a way of life that I really haven’t seen as healthy.  Kids in high schools are glued to their social media so much that it literally defines who they are.  Nothing is sacred, and nothing comes across as productive.  In fact, it is just the opposite.  Back in September I saw a reflection of myself overlooking a mass of people all (including myself) mechanically panning and swiping their way through countless photos, posts, tweets, messages, pins and texts.  Most, if not all, barely looking up and having no concept of the amount of time they have spent in their little 5 to 6 inch world.  Looking at myself in that reflection, I suddenly felt a huge loss.  A loss of time, of self, of life.  I had become aware of how I let this addiction control my life.  I lamented on the experiences I let slip away because I could not put my phone down, let alone away.  It was time for a change.  It is very easy to say “growing up we didn’t have this.  We had to call, or visit who we wanted to talk to.  We had to verbally “catch up”, or worse (not really) write letters or postcards.  We chose are words carefully, we didn’t have a “delete” option.  But the best thing was, none of it was out there for the world to see.  I cannot think of anything more toxic than social media.  And with so many platforms to use, it just makes it harder and harder to escape from.  Since that moment I have limited the amount of time to browsing, scanning or catching up on my accounts.  In fact the only consistent media I use, is WordPress.  And while yes I have made it an everyday visit, I find it such a healthier, creative use of my time.  It is pretty obvious I do it for myself, like a cleansing, as I am not obsessively seeking “likes” or “followers.”  I do really appreciate those of you who take the valuable time out of your day to stop in.  I also really enjoy reading other posts, but again, I have limited myself and my time.  Since I have almost cleansed myself of this toxicity, I believe I have become much more productive, more aware, and more appreciative of the conversations I have.  I also enjoy the time I use to wait for responses, doing the things I had loss site of and lament the time I wasted not spending with my family or getting into stupid arguments over misinterpreted texts, messages, posts, etc.  My kids are all now over the age of 18 and as my daughter graduates high school this year, I wonder how many things I missed because I wasn’t watching them, my eyes were down.  Never again. #don’t blink

Toxic
3 of Many

Don’t Rock the Boat (or do) 

Bunny Facts

Come Back When Grumpy