These Crazy Times

Trump. Pence. Kamala. Biden. 2020 election. Pandemic. Hurricanes. Karens. Face masks. BLM. California fires. Jeff Bezos. Concentration Camps. Critical business losses. TikTok. What a time! Finally priests can catch a break!

The various groups in this country need to have conversations: "Hey, other groups, you hurt our feelings the way you went about x,y, and z." The other groups could respond, "We understand, we will try to be better, and here's how." Instead all we get is both sides raising their defenses and throwing up red herring after red herring so they don't have to self-reflect and admit fault. 

I recently had a disagreement with a friend who approached me about a bad way I made him feel. Instead of saying, "hey, I'll try to be better in the future, and I'm sorry I made you feel that way," I said, "that doesn't make sense, and I don't much like your tone either." 

Here's the reality. When we hurt other people, we are not in a place to make demands on how they approach us about it. It would be even better to thank them for approaching us about something they likely didn't want to mention. We may not always understand how we hurt others, but we are all mysterious individuals with sensitivities that matter; and sometimes an apology is the best path forward. Giving others the space they need to process their hurt is the respectful, mature approach, and I'm not always the best at this. 

I see a lot of this immaturity on social media. People (including myself) post content trying to be edgy, and it just comes off as disrespectful. If we could move on from some of the intensity we see there, that would be great. I see a lot of people taking breaks from social media these days, and perhaps that's for the best.

While we're on the topic of social media, I notice that most of the time when I post, I'm trying to get a laugh or craft my self-image as someone who's not suffering, who's not exhausted. I try to come off as more fun than I am. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fun guy sometimes, but not all the time. Sometimes I just like to smoke the hookah, let my hair down and give my dog some lil kisses. And to be honest, I'm not the most confident person either. I look at my cupcake belly fat in the mirror and get pretty down on myself. I'm trying to work on that though (#gymlife), but I also want to be confident no matter my body type, you know?

Anyways! Perhaps I'm blowing up the intensity of our social media situation more than necessary. Perhaps people are more chill in person than on social media. Perhaps we're all on there crafting images of ourselves where we care about social issues because we're virtue signaling (although if you do feel passionate about something, keep up the good work). I'm not too happy about this post but it was some stuff I had to get off my chest. I hope you're doing well and start thinking about how you're going to scare with your Halloween costumes! I'm hoping to be scared shitless as I get chased around a suburban neighborhood by some guy covered in war paint, screaming obscenities. Keep 2020 spicy!