Serenity

Social networking is stupid. The only reason I ever feel the need to get on it anymore is because someone will say oh did you see what so and so posted?! And then of course I want to go look. The real thing that keeps me from deleting it is because then who would read my blog? I can see where readers look at it from and about 98 percent of the time it is from Facebook or twitter. But I do not like it. I do not like phones. Or tv. And maybe you think that, well if you don't like it get rid of it. But in this new world how can one get by without having phone and Internet access? I just think about when I was little and how it was a big deal when my brother or I got to play on the computer for like a half hour if even. Our parents were always kicking us outside until dinner. And then they had to drag us back in for bed during the summer. We "had" to make up games to play. Pretend. Play tag or hide and go seek. Kick the can. Jump on the trampoline for hours at a time. Make forts and rope swings. Play in the pool literally from morning until night during the summer. And at night we would watch a movie or read a story and then go to bed. But we weren't watching tv all day long, sitting on lap tops or iPads or iPhones all day. I didn't even get a real cell phone until 8th grade. Now kids as early as second grade have phones or iPads. The only outdoor things they do are probably the sports that their parents put them in. I'm sure it's not that extreme. Kids still go outside. Just probably not nearly as much. 

This topic has been discussed time and time again. And it will keep being discussed the more advanced our society and technology gets. And there's not a lot we can do about it. I'm just hoping that when I'm a parent one day that my kids will be happy to be kicked outside for a couple of hours and not complain that they want to play angry birds, or whatever the latest game at the time will be. I can only hope. I'm all for technology and how useful it is. I mean hey I'm writing this all conveniently on my phone right now. But it doesn't need to be all technology all the time. Especially for young kids. I'm just thankful for the experiences that I got growing up and I'll cherish those. I also cherish the times when I get to go camping or to the lake and don't have to worry about cell phones or Internet or Facebook. I can lay on the beach and read a book. Or sit by the river and wait for a fish. When it's so serene. Imagine the writing I could accomplish with thoughts free of all of this craziness. With images of outdoors and nature rather than clutter from this technological world. We rarely get those times anymore but that makes them that much more memorable. I hope for the future that we still even have those opportunities, or places where cell service can't be reached. I hope.