Serious post is serious

I'm concerned.

I worry too much anyway, but I'm not just worried about me. I'm included, but I'm concerned for us. All of us. All of the people everywhere -especially in the United States- because I have no other country of origin to compare. So I'm going to assume it's the globe. OK, so I'm worried about the world.

Well, shit. This is going to go well.

(Before I delve too deeply and, like Russell Crowe in "Les Miserables," you just want to scream "STOP SINGING AND THROW YOURSELF OFF THE BUILDING/BRIDGE/THINGY ALREADY," I just want to say that I too am guilty of everything I'm worried about. And yet, I continue to do it, so perhaps it's more of a cry for help that anything else. HALP. Kidding. I'm OK. Sort of. I'm attempting change.)

Put your phones away. Seriously. Put. Them. Away.

I'm not saying when you're alone and you just want some glorious Pinterest Facebook Tumblr InstaGram Porn messaging time - by all means, bust that nerd hermit persona out - but when you're out and about, with your friends, having a casual conversation, or in a group with people, or even if someone is talking to you at work, put your fucking phone away. I KNOW I'm a full on hypocrite for saying this, but we as a collective have lost the ability to connect with those closest to us, and I for one am planning to do something about it.

I don't want to be one of those people. I really don't. I see myself, at a happy hour with friends, or in a room with people all on their phones, or being in the middle of a conversation where I, or the other individual has picked up their phone and randomly started texting away. Mid-conversation. Like, are the people I'm hanging out with that dull, boring or uninteresting that I have to distract myself otherwise? ABSOLUTELY NOT. For the first time in my life I feel as though I have a close set of friends who are beautiful, funny, caring and awesome. Why in the HELL would I need a distraction from that? Yet there I am, wherever I go, absentmindedly checking my phone for a missed text, alert, message, weather, time...and it's rude. I'M RUDE. AND I'M SORRY.

There are going to be times when I will want to show a friend a picture, or some such similar thing, and I think (I think?) that's allowed. If you're having a discussion, and you want to pull up something relevant to it, I think that's OK in my book. But then the phone goes away. No calls. No texts. No "distracting" oneself from the original goal- to go out and socialize and be normal human beings with other human beings. And like, talk and stuff. About current events. About a book you're reading, or about a really great new friend you met in yoga class. Hell, even cat stories. Whatever. Just TALK. Actually focus on what the other person is saying and learn from them. I know that I stare at a screen in one form or another over 12 hours a day, and it's not good. NO WONDER I have issues meeting people's gazes...If it wasn't for the fabulous girls-happy-hour-night-out yesterday, I'd be hard pressed to think of a time when I really just sat with people and...INTERACTED. (P.S. We did NOT do any photos such as the below example )

LOTS OF CAPS IN THIS POST. 

I realize technology isn't going away any time soon. It's only rapidly increasing in attainability and volume, so there won't be any getting away from that. But when it's easier (per say) to comment on a picture posted onto Facebook by a friend who happens to be 1500 miles away than to gaze at and interact with the person sitting across the table from you...all I see is trouble, and an eventual world of drones where we've lost all of our heart, soul, and passion just for the privilege of being able to capture where you were in a moment in time on some random Tuesday. (It always is a Tuesday. Fuck Tuesdays.)

(Also, Wednesdays, because of that goddamn "Hump Day" commercial." It's not funny. Never was. It's just moronic.)

Conclusion: Drastic measures need to be taken. -CUE DRAMATIC, FLAILING GESTURES- I am no longer allowing myself to become distracted. If I need to know the time, I'll look at my watch. (Post-It Note to self: buy watch.) If I hear a text or phone call come in, it can wait. No really, it can. 99% of the time, it's not going to be any kind of emergency that requires immediate attention. I am busy. I have a life. I have friends. I go out sometimes. So it's OK, while I am actually HAVING a social life, to NOT be a douche and  advertise that I'm having a social life just so I can let everyone know that...I have a social life. 

So I'm gonna go back to doing that right now. KTHNXBAI //end rant

Images via Tumblr and theoatmeal.com 

Releasing your inner BADASS

Being brave is one of the scarier things in life. (I know, this bitch is talking about first world problems again, amirite?) It really is though. Instinctively, people are hard-wired to exhibit courage when it comes to your fight or flight response. However, since I do not reside in a third world country and am currently not running for my life from a lioness in the bush, courage and bravery (and yes, some instinct) is what I will be discussing today.

It's difficult for me to be honest with people. As brash and bold as I may appear on the outside, when it comes to being honest with myself and necessity to convey that to others, I fail. Example: Last Christmas, or thereabouts, I was semi-seeing the worst man in existence, and he happened to comfortably drop a racial slur (several times) in my presence. My inner hackles raised, I proceeded to do...absolutely nothing. Of COURSE I was offended and felt extremely uncomfortable. So- why nothing?

It's simply difficult. It's almost impossible to gather the inner stones to tell someone they're being a complete ass. It's not easy to let someone know you aren't interested in pursuing a future with them. The thing about relationships is, one side is always going to be wrong and a little off...until you meet someone who, well, isn't. Some can complement you completely. And someone ending up heartbroken in the process of two beings colliding into each other for a moment on this Earth, well... that's life, isn't it?

That being said, I still search for ways to be brave- to DELIBERATELY make myself uncomfortable so that my voice, myself, my very being is noticed and taken account of. I can be assertive without being a bitch. And, as the lovely Anna and GTITW have consistently instructed me to "Say what you wanna say and let the words fall out. I wanna see you be brave. And if someone gets offended by your honesty, well, that's their problem. Not yours." And they're absolutely correct. 

No, I'm not the total hell on wheels with no soul that people often perceive me to be (I believe "intimidating" was used once to describe me, and that was back at university.) I am an inner softy with a wicked bark (rest assured, the bite has and will come out if necessary.) But I'm just learning now, after 34 years on this gorgeous home planet of ours, that the truth shall set you free; and anyone who doesn't stick around for this magnificent tilt-a-whirl that is 'my life' because they can't handle me or my truth can FUCK OFF. In a nice way, of course. 

But no, really do fuck off.

So think about what you honestly have to say to the world, others, and yourself. The right people will stick around if you're the best version of "you" you can be. Be honest, have integrity, but above all be cordial- because let's face it- if you aren't, Karma will come around and ass-fuck you with a cactus.

Images via Tumblr

This shit is gold.

Yo.

Guest blogged on my homegirl's blog....check it out here.

Live long and prosper.

Image via Tumbler