The Next Next Generation

Imagine growing up and all your baby pictures are not only stacked up in your parents entrance hall, but also every picture of every burp and embarrassing thing you've ever done is posted on your mom’s Facebook timeline and all over the rest of the internet. Now everything you have ever done is on display for the world to see, either captured in a picture or a status. If you Google yourself, you can find your whole life on the internet. This is not something we think about. But it is a reality our kids are going to face.

I personally think that our little act of entertainment will screw up our children royally. I have previously said that we all broadcast too much of ourselves – but we also broadcast too much of those that are entrusted to us. Imagine reading a blog your mom or dad wrote in their 20’s. Our kids are going to grow up with it. They are going to be able to find out what we were doing when we were in our 20 somethings, by scrolling down our Facebook timeline, reading our tweets, etc.

Post responsibly. Once you posted something on the internet you can’t ever really fully delete it. Our tech savvy kids will be able to dig it up. They will see your drunken party pictures, judge you by your profile pictures, see how many people you dated and when. Your whole youth will be out there, for them and their friends to see and for them to call you on. No hiding that you were also a person before you became a parent (I of course grew up with the notion that my parents were never young, they've just always been parents, and have only recently found out that they had lives before they had kids, shocker!).

Will they be more popular in school because of the amount of likes their baby page has? What happens to the kid who has no Facebook page of his or her own, created by their loving mom? Is he/she immediately labelled an outcast?

You might think that these things are cute now, and easier than sending Christmas cards with photo updates, but think about the long run. I personally don't want to see pictures of me as a baby in a bathtub on the internet, and I don't know that many people that will want to.

I think my generation are producing some messed up kids. Facebook is not your personal family album! Think before you post!

2013

So before 2012 ends I just want to write one last blogpost. I've been at home with my family for the past week, which has been extremely draining but fun. I don't know how I'll ever be ready for kids of my own, cause even though I do love them, they are so exhausting. I have once again a new found wonder for my mother who raised four kids. Sho. *Sorry I regressed, as this post is actually about the new year and not at all about kids. oops

Anyways so the end of the year is here and social networks are buzzing with people taking stock of the previous year, people looking forward to the new year and even some making those all to lovely New Years Resolutions (NYR) which are never kept. How are we so delusional that we think this year is going to be completely different? Why do we think that because the year has ended, that our thoughts and acts will be renewed instantly as the clock strikes 12?

The thing that most people don't realize is that if they do not change, nothing will. A wise man once said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results. Making NYR's are probably as effective as wishing upon a shooting star. Yet we all still do that. We probably make these so called promises to ourselves to make us feel better and to feel like we are in control, which is also a strange phenomenon, but not one to be discussed tonight.

Another thing that I've been wondering about is whether we should seize the moment or follow our dreams. I personally think that following your dreams will eventually yield better results, but sometimes those dreams can cause you to miss some amazing opportunities that just pops up, and vice versa, sometimes we get so lost in the moment that we lose focus on our dreams.

I believe that we each have an internal compass that directs our lives. Sometimes we are so off course that we lose ourselves, and who we are. My wish for 2013 is to just keep as close to my internal compass as I possibly can. Whether that means following my dreams or living in the moment, or even it is the same thing.

And I leave you with a thought for the New Year:

“Heroes didn't leap tall buildings or stop bullets with an outstretched hand; they didn't wear boots and capes. They bled, and they bruised, and their superpowers were as simple as listening, or loving. Heroes were ordinary people who knew that even if their own lives were impossibly knotted, they could untangle someone else's. And maybe that one act could lead someone to rescue you right back.”
- Jodi Picoult, Second Glance

Hope you have a great 2013. Be a hero!

On Blogging

I have always been afraid of blogging - afraid that I might not be good at writing, or that no one will read what I write. I have come to realize however that I am not so much writing for anyone as I am writing for myself.

Writing/blogging is a calming activity, that makes me slow down and think about what I have learnt and done in the past, maybe week, month or even year. It puts things into perspective and creates a focus. It is also a kind of sieve/filter on my mind. Which goes through important bits.

The first time I wrote something for a blog was for a travel blog. It was fun and I felt like I could just be myself and say what I want to say. I realize that once I put something onto paper (or as the case may be keyboard) it will always be there, and anyone might see it.

In the near future I believe that we will all broadcast too much of ourselves on the internet (most of us are already), the average 20something has numerous accounts and feels the need to update regularly what he/she is doing. I have a friend who is the most disconnected person I know, she has a facebook account which she never checks and she can't remember the password to it either, she has an old phone that is always on silent (because she needs it when she needs to reach people) in our high tech world, she has just not cared to keep up. Getting hold of her is frustrating as hell, but I love her for that. I think the strange contrast she presents to the world is what is so appealing to me.

As for me I am much to nosy to not have numerous accounts, I used to love wasting time on social networks not posting anything but just scrolling though what others thought was important enough to broadcast. I have in the past couple of months noticed that I haven't been doing that as often as I used to. I find different ways of entertaining myself and wasting time that I don't have - like starting this blog.

So, it is not about if anybody enjoys reading this, but about how much I enjoyed writing it ;)