Category Archives: Life as I Know It

On sadness, social media, and the last few days…

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Ed. note: This is a bit long. Bear with me, because I had some things I needed to say, and had to explain circuitously.

It’s been a rough few days.

There are several reasons why. But I’ll get to that in a minute. First I want to talk about social media.

Specifically, using social media when we’re sad.

I’ve read many articles about the psychological effects of social media. How we use it, how positive versus negative information in our feeds affects us, how words and topics and ideas trend. And every single bit of clinical research done, to date, tells us that our Facebook lives are perfect.

Perfect? Surely, that can’t be right…

Continue reading →

2014 Year in Review…

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(Bear with me, folks… it’s a long one.)

I’m usually a pretty sentimental sap. Much to my family’s amusement, I cry a lot. Movies, commercials… you name it. I find emotional meaning in more than most people, and I tend to love reflecting and being introspective.

So, when I say that I have been counting down to close the book on 2014 since mid-October, you can imagine what sort of year it’s been.

Don’t get me wrong; life is always busy, and there’s always something. Over the last 18 years, I’ve come to accept that life is moments of beautiful in a sea of messy. I don’t expect it to be all sunshine and roses. But sometimes, stuff just piles on and piles on, and you can’t catch your breath. And that’s how my (our) year was, beginning as early as late January/early February. Continue reading →