Real. Unedited and Unfiltered.

My view from Triangulation Peak earlier in the summer.  That was real.

I quit Facebook back at the beginning of quarantine. I mean, I've abandoned FB before so it's not a huge deal. This time I was craving a little more peace and solitude in my life. And maybe some privacy too. Seems like I was subject to "approval" for my life choices from people I didn't ask for an opinion. It was either "Leave me the f*&k alone and mind your own business" or close down my account. I chose the latter, being non confrontational and all. 

 I don't have any big epiphanies to share about my time away. Nothing profound changed in my life (I found TikTok!). It was quiet and I like that. 

 Social media does invade your mind, a little bit at a time. There is too much information constantly bombarding our lives. People's opinions, their carefully edited snapshots, unwanted input, unnecessary information, inaccurate facts....The list goes on and on. Sometimes all of this inspires but more often it dulls us and makes us cynical.

 As a person who has spent too much time in "the dark place" in recent years, I am learning to carefully guard where my time is now spent and where my mind goes to play. My real life, the one I get to actually participate in, is way too extraordinary to waste much time in an artificial cyber world.

"My" shop. 

 

 As much as I enjoy seeing pictures of people's vacations and their kids and their dogs, I have found that the view from my back patio is much more satisfying to me. Rather than spending hours getting caught up on everyone else's life, I'd rather spend time with my people and create a life with them.  

I read a few quotes that have really stuck with me:    

 No, Facebook (or Insta, or whatever your choice of social media might be) isn't bad. I'm definitely NOT saying that.  I think I'll even pop on occasionally and see what's happening.  

It's just that I crave real. Unfiltered, unedited real.  And social media falls short on that.

                                

Biggest bass I've every caught.  And Jake's finger.  And a Whatchamacallit and Coke.  Definitely unedited and unfiltered.