Yes...I still FaceBook. I have to...I have a business. In all honesty, I don't have a lot of time to scroll facebook newsfeeds but I took the time a couple of years ago to 'tailor' my personal page so that I see only what I want to; mostly positive affirmations, close family and friends to keep up (with a few exceptions) plus great recipe and animal video sites. It's a pleasant place; a happy world I created for myself. When people ask me during the day if saw 'so and so's' rant, or heard the terrible thing that happened in timb buck two...I usually haven't. Now I notice that many people are leaving Facebook because they can't take the negativity or political bashing or grandstanding. Understood...but just like in life we have choices. Choice every second, every minute, every hour. I guess one choice is to just quit something we love or enjoy because others are making it an unpleasant place or maybe we could choose to hide those comments so we don't need to see them and invite the types of things we do want into our viewing pleasure and stay somewhere we enjoy. Facebook is a great metaphor for life, just like anything else. It's how we handle it.
If in life we are surrounded by people, and things that are assaulting our senses we find new people and things to be surrounded by. If things aren't working out for us in a certain circumstance we find another circumstance. But maybe just walking away isn't what people want to do anymore...but if we are going to stay and take a stand maybe we could do it by inviting others to meet us in the middle instead of leaving not place for others to come in.
What's going on in the world right now is testing all of us. The world is on fire. No matter which devisive side you agree with you are being asked to take a stand, either out loud or in your heart. What is happening will effect each of us in some way, either directly or indirectly by affecting someone or something we love or care about. Apathy is no longer a choice. We can't just log off for a few weeks...we need to make choices and hopefully those choices will bring us to some manageable, livable, loving place because what it looks like now is a place with a big angry red line down the middle and that isn't good for any of us.
No one has the corner on right or wrong, good or bad. We are in a great discovery phase right now in the world. We are discovering that what we have been doing for a very long time isn't working well...intolerance doesn't work, big government doesn't work, great divide doesn't work, ignoring the needs of mother earth doesn't work, ignoring the needs of the less fortunate doesn't work, war doesn't work, giving away the store doesn't work. We need to choose a new way...a middle ground that works for all.
It's okay not to get politically or actively involved today; that's always someone's personal choice. But it's not okay to abandon your own choices...choose you. One way to do this is to make sure no one chooses for you even in the little everyday things...like Facebook. You don't like a post you see...hide it. Like in life...you can still be friends and not engage in certain conversations. Simple. How we interact with people determines our relationships. Its called agreeing to disagree. Its called respect for our fellow man. We can do it from a heart based place.
A heart based place also realizes that there are two sides to every story...it realizes that nothing is as simple as it seems...it realizes that people basically just want the same thing even if they go about it differently...it realizes sometimes people are misguided until they have more information...it realizes that reaching across the aisle has more impact then staunchly standing your ground till the other side gives in and it realizes that sometimes things have to get worse before they get better.
So choose a side if you must but at some point we all need to find the middle ground...its the only way back to peace, serenity and wholeness. It's the only way to put the fire out.