When did writing get so difficult? Why is it that people are wasting their brains on social media or music with terribly bland and/or derogatory lyrics? Why does no one among my own generation give a flying you know what about what is going on, not just in their own city, state, country...but all those other countries in the world?
When did the focus turn to the mundane? Are we scared? Is fear now fueling the reality television programs that distract us from the real, hard problems that directly and indirectly affect us everyday? And why the hell should that matter? When did we all get so damn self-involved?
I am guilty. I check my iPhone constantly. I recently deleted my Twitter account, which was rarely used but nonetheless, I still feel a little too proud of myself. I am still guilty of checking Facebook multiple times a day. I check my phone multiple times in the course of a few minutes to see if I have a text message.
What has happened to me? I think it is time to get back to what really truly matters to my own interests and my own passions. Thank goodness I am returning to school. I am so ready for Mills.
Just checked my phone again...
...it's a work in progress.
In any case, I want--no, NEED to set the example for my friends, my peers, and my generation.
Facebook has got to be moderated. It should be used as what it has been advertised as; a social networking site. If you are not networking, get off and do something useful. Why am I reading about what some teeny bopper (whom I have met once) is doing with their friends for the evening in our boring little conservative town? I could be finding a study abroad program in South Africa, or volunteering at a women's shelter. I could just be reading! Reading anything and everything. Nobody reads anymore. We are too busy reposting memes about not wanting to get out of bed when we've found "the comfiest spot!" Really? You have a bed. You have heat. You have Internet. Be grateful.
So here's to a revitalized ME. Instead of worrying when my boyfriend is going to text me back, or liking statuses about nothingness, or feeling jealous or resentful of those who are away from home and independently living...whether they are carelessly partying or behaving productively...here's a call to making efforts to be informed. Here's to being less involved with what I "want" or what I seem to feel "entitled to have" and more immersed in how I can "contribute" or how I can prepare myself for the life I would like to have.
I find myself saying "I can't wait to live my life." What am I talking about? THIS is it. Live it. Yes, being 21 is young and life is ahead of me and my goals for the next 10, 15, 20 years are still ahead of me. But I have big, BIG goals and there is no way I am going to accomplish them without accomplishing them now. Don't be the generation who you despise. Don't despise the generation which you should be inspiring. Don't lose your inspiration.
Perhaps Summer can cause us to lose focus for a moment, or even when (like me) we take a year off from our studies to do what we think is most financially or emotionally stable, and end up feeling constantly anxious and stagnant.
I feel stagnant.
But now, NOW is the time to reinspire myself. Yes, reinspire. When everything in my life feels dormant and listless, it is time to take the lazy bull by its horns and turn it around in the direction of that deviled red cape. Somehow, I've gotta make that hoof drag at the ground, feeding the passion that once fueled this fiery feminist. I'm going to find the right matador to get my life going in the right direction.
Though this summer has a few more scheduled vacations to waste away some brain power, reading and researching and brainstorming and informing is a never-ending exercise which is what my silly little smartphone should be used for.
And as a highly appropriate ending to this post is what my headphones are feeding into my ears right this very moment. Ah, life and its funny ways of making everything come together quite nicely.
Well mighty mighty appetite
We just eat 'em up and keep on driving
Freedom can be freezing take a picture from the pretty side
Mind your manners wave your banners
What a wonderful world that this angle can see
But who needs to see what we've done?
Who needs please when we've got guns?
Who needs keys when we've got clubs?
Who needs peace when we've gone above
But beyond where we should have gone?
Beyond where we should have gone
We went beyond where we should have gone
Beyond where we should have gone.
