Selfies...???

So I have a "thing" about "selfies"; the "thing" is...I am not a fan. I suppose part of it is because me thinks our culture is obsessed with itself. Collectively and individually. I walk and/or drive around town and I watch as youngsters hold their phones in their hands as if they couldn't breathe without them. Kinda like an external lung. They barely watch where they're going or notice their surroundings. They step off curbs, into traffic, with nary a glance at what may be coming. And they walk...or rather, amble, across the road as if they're immortal. I get great pleasure honking my horn right as they reach dead center of my truck's hood. I laugh my ass off when they jump out of their skins and glare at me. I know. It's mean! But you know something? I don't care. I feel it is my personal mission to get them to pay attention. And besides that, what I really want to do is grab the fucking phone and toss it in front of a speeding bus. So, in that regard, I'm not as mean as I could be. (hear the sound of my roaring laughter here.)

{First Aside: as you can see, I have very strong feelings about this. I want to assure you, though, that we WILL come back 'round to JOY. As we always do. So...hang tough and read on.}

The second reason I may be so averse to selfies is that I'm terrible at taking them. Every time I think it might be fun to try (while in my home, not out in public), I take about ten...and hate every one of them. I look ridiculous. What's worse, I have never once taken a selfie that was even remotely flattering. So, perhaps, I am just as guilty of the self-obsession I so clearly loathe.

Strike two.

{Second Aside: to prove my point, here is a selfie I took just before sitting down to right this post. See what I mean? RIDICULOUS.}

{Actually, the real reason for wanting to take a photo was because my hair is looking fabulous today. AND...it's finally long enough to put up in a banana clip. Thrilling stuff, this.}

But back to the point...

While watching "World of Dance" this week, there was a couple who did a dance that was all about their own feelings about cell phones and how we ignore the loved one right in front of us, just because we need to keep our faces buried in our phones. It was both profound and a stunning performance. They won the "battle" for this week's Face Offs. I had recorded the show, as I always do, and watched that dance three times before moving on. I was so deeply touched, I had tears running down my face. So, you see, this has been festering for a while. Even before seeing that performance, I have struggled to keep my perspective about all this. Mostly because I want to be certain that I am not turning into some crabby old woman without a sense of perspective or any aversion to change. I want, always, to be open-minded and eager to face change. I want to remain open to new adventures. Most of all, though, I wish to live my Life with boundless Appreciation. Having such aversions to the way the mainstream uses technology is, in my mind, a tricky and treacherous line I walk every time I see what I see.

If I am being honest with Meself, the whole thing boils down to judgments. That is to say, I am judging people for the way they live their lives. Or use their devices. Or the choices they make. I judge them without having a clue about who they really are. Or why they do what they do. Or the personal freedoms I so strongly support. Who the hell am I to judge them? Further, why should I care at all? Is the mainstream obsession with selfies going to have a derogatory affect on my world? 

The answer is: NO. It has nothing to do with me, unless, of course, I make it my business. Why in the world would I do that? Why should I care if people are zombie-walking through their lives with phones permanently glued to their hands? What has any of it to do with me?

In some ways, I could argue that, in a Big-Picture kind of way, it does affect all of us. In the way that people are so immersed in their social media lives that they're not participating in the world around them...and that is a mighty dangerous thing.

{Third Aside: case in point: the current President of the United States and how he got there. Did you know that less than sixty percent of the population voted? But...let us not go down that road...Talk about slippery slopes!}

To say that none of this is affecting us, as a global society, is to be blind to all the rest of the things going on right now that sorely need our attention. As you can see, I'm vacillating here. Yes or no? Does it or doesn't it matter? 

So...here's where I ended up:

I have the choice, just as each of us does, to CHOOSE what I give my attention to. I have the power, in my own Life, to change my focus and direct it to those things that not only bring me Joy, but also have a direct affect on the world. Energy is energy. Where I focus that energy, where any of us focus, is the only thing that really matters. Do I wish to focus on the insanely massive selfie-taking population OR would I prefer to focus instead on all the millions of people who take time, each and every day, to make the world a better place? 

Me thinks it's a no-brainer.

{Last Aside: SHEESH! I'm so happy I got that off my chest!}