Our innate innocence was once the one thing that protected us from puzzles where the pieces never fit. Those situations where our inner sonar would send a ping to our heart and we trusted in an instant that this meant stop everything, don't touch, back up, freeze! We believed so strongly in what we were feeling that it was difficult to be manipulated into feeling something else, especially if something else was contradictory. During these times we were crystal clear not in precisely where we might end up, but at least steadfast and undeterred in our belief in where we were headed. Dreams for us did not just happen in REM as mysterious phenomenons, but our dreams were day dreams too. Wide awake dreams that spilled out in living color, with faces and dates and predicated outcomes. We made meaningful decisions that took longer than slapstick thirty second sound bites.
We realized that acting on our current best thinking came with real consequences. Consequences that could jeopardize our ability to rebound while also causing irreparable harm to ourselves for months and years to come. The difference is when we gambled with our reputation it was not by pushing the "send" button on a keyboard. It was by letting people into our lives over coffee at the corner café. We shook hands, we did not push "like".
We got to know one another's character not by visiting home pages, but by our ability to tell the same compelling self-story the same way twice. We did not make stuff up in hopes gaining more followers. We followed our raw gut about others. And on the outside chance we were dead wrong about them, we didn't "unfriend" them. We cursed them out and held the front door open.
Gone are the days that if we felt strongly enough about something we held up picket signs, started grassroots boycotts, participated in sit ins at the neighborhood diner, or appeared on the courthouse steps. Today we sign online petitions, threaten to call our Congressman, respond to ROBO calls, and stage passive/aggressive shut ins.
It is no wonder gone are the days that our word meant something. Because there are no words for how we are conducting ourselves in this new millennium of excess. Our safety net has become APPS that tell us how to think, what to think, and when to think. Whatever happened to good old fashioned taking it to the prayer closet? We don't even mourn the loss of our lost innocence. Rather we jump onto the next social media "it" and we seduce it into our sub consciousness. We have no shame. We will even let the keyboard do our dirty work. We will try to fix every little thing in our life by pecking away on smart devices. Break ups, make ups, hook ups...all can be found a click away.
It is no wonder gone are the good old days. I for one, would much rather return to the times that when things did not go my way, I listened to and relied on that voice in my head that said, "soldier on". Not the one now that is trying to take over my mind which says, "There is an APP for that."
Gone are the days that APPLE was a fruit. The kind of fruit you would risk everything for jumping over the fence into the neighbor's yard helping yourself only to the ones that "fell" off the tree naturally.
We used to deliver mighty declarations under street lights and declare our love on front porches. We wanted to, had to, see them face to face. Now a simple text or snapchat will do. We used to sit on the couches with plastic covers careful not to make noise as we made out or made up.
Gone are the days that no man left behind really meant no man left behind. Everybody returns to the fort. Everyone gets home safe. Everyone was truly their brother's keeper. No APPLES to be found anywhere!
We realized that acting on our current best thinking came with real consequences. Consequences that could jeopardize our ability to rebound while also causing irreparable harm to ourselves for months and years to come. The difference is when we gambled with our reputation it was not by pushing the "send" button on a keyboard. It was by letting people into our lives over coffee at the corner café. We shook hands, we did not push "like".
We got to know one another's character not by visiting home pages, but by our ability to tell the same compelling self-story the same way twice. We did not make stuff up in hopes gaining more followers. We followed our raw gut about others. And on the outside chance we were dead wrong about them, we didn't "unfriend" them. We cursed them out and held the front door open.
Gone are the days that if we felt strongly enough about something we held up picket signs, started grassroots boycotts, participated in sit ins at the neighborhood diner, or appeared on the courthouse steps. Today we sign online petitions, threaten to call our Congressman, respond to ROBO calls, and stage passive/aggressive shut ins.
It is no wonder gone are the days that our word meant something. Because there are no words for how we are conducting ourselves in this new millennium of excess. Our safety net has become APPS that tell us how to think, what to think, and when to think. Whatever happened to good old fashioned taking it to the prayer closet? We don't even mourn the loss of our lost innocence. Rather we jump onto the next social media "it" and we seduce it into our sub consciousness. We have no shame. We will even let the keyboard do our dirty work. We will try to fix every little thing in our life by pecking away on smart devices. Break ups, make ups, hook ups...all can be found a click away.
It is no wonder gone are the good old days. I for one, would much rather return to the times that when things did not go my way, I listened to and relied on that voice in my head that said, "soldier on". Not the one now that is trying to take over my mind which says, "There is an APP for that."
Gone are the days that APPLE was a fruit. The kind of fruit you would risk everything for jumping over the fence into the neighbor's yard helping yourself only to the ones that "fell" off the tree naturally.
We used to deliver mighty declarations under street lights and declare our love on front porches. We wanted to, had to, see them face to face. Now a simple text or snapchat will do. We used to sit on the couches with plastic covers careful not to make noise as we made out or made up.
Gone are the days that no man left behind really meant no man left behind. Everybody returns to the fort. Everyone gets home safe. Everyone was truly their brother's keeper. No APPLES to be found anywhere!
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