I possess hobbies like hoarders possess junk. I have finally made it to the point in my life where I have actually been able to complete some of
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As I was growing up, social networking was completely different than what it is today. In the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s to social network one had to actually leave their homes to chat with their friends. It did not require a special language (or lingo) either. Back then social networking came with a handshake, a kiss on the cheek, or a hug, not a poke or shout or whatever passes for that nowadays. I often speak about how many friends my Dad had in his lifetime. I am talking real face to face friends. People he knew and visited, shared a beer with, worked on their car, watched a sporting event, argued about politics, friends that he grieved with, or shared moments of joy with when a new child was born, my Dad was a real life social networker. When he passed away friends of his from all over came to mourn the loss of a great man. I recognized friends of his that I had not seen in more than 25 years. The funeral home was not large enough to contain all the guests and the activity spilled outside onto the grounds and into the parking lot. My Dad had made lifelong friends during his social networking and none of it was from sitting in front of a computer.
The reason for this post is not to tell you about my Dad; it is to tell you about the dangers of social networking. Not just from the predator types either. It is mentally healthy to socialize with other people; it is not mentally healthy to sit in front of an electronic device and hold multiple conversations all at the same time. Sure you may find out what Bill & Sue are up to from one of your other friends, but you would have eventually found out the news if you were really either one of Bill or Sue’s actual friends to begin with. There are multiple dangers from modern day electronic social networking, some of them with long lasting effects. Cyber-bullying is not just for school kids, adults do it as well. Being bullied can cause long term mental disorders. Real life people have even committed suicide over this type of behavior. Both younger and older people have been subjected to electronic abuse. Sadly some of it by people they never even knew. Sure you can be bullied in person as well, but the effects of such events were less circulated in the past and were easier to control to a degree. Nowadays you can be bullied by someone who lives in another country, who is just piling on to something he read on another friend’s page. This is just an example of one of the dangers that can be found on the internet. Cyber-predators are an even worse form of danger. They could be after your children, your money or even you. They lurk as a “friend” following everything that you post. They strike your home when you are away or you in the parking lot where you just happened to tell everyone where you were. I am writing a book on just this sort of character. I have an active fiction blog that I post to every day, based on this fictional characters exploits. Although, my blog and subsequent book are a work of fiction; there are real predators out there and you need to protect your friends, family, children and yourself from them. While technology is not going away any time soon, we all need to use them in moderation and be mindful of what information we are putting out there. We could all benefit from my Dad’s play book and actually go visit a real life friend every now and then. I promise you it will be good for your heart and soul. I am beginning to understand why previous generations carved information into stones. It is because thousands of years later people can still see them and in most cases read/interpret the information. Thus withstanding the test of time, long after the demise of the people who engraved what they felt was important to them in stone. I have been writing and telling stories for over twenty years and almost everything I have written has been by hand, with a pen and paper. It was only after I started trying to compose everything on an electronic device that things started to go wrong. I know I am not the only person to lose their data from a resultant computer crash, but I have had this happen to me twice in a single month. It is frustrating; I was almost back to a point of recovery when my new computer crashed. No form of recovery possible the second time. Fortunately we have thumb drives, clouds and online back up these days, but they only help you if bother to use them. Have I learned my lesson? Have you? Likely we will all manage to lose data that is important to us again.
It has been through my slow recovery process that I began to think about what will someone two thousand years from now do with my thumb drive or stack of back up DVD’s? Neither is as simple as staring at some hand carvings on stone. (Just as Greek to me actually as computer code is.) Even if the world has morphed into some gigantic network of machines, will it have the capability to read our data? Will our electronic medium become so useless that we will in effect leave nothing behind? Keep in mind that every electronic device we own has been fabricated using parts made by the cheapest bidder. If I can have a component on a machine break after just 32 days in use, it becomes obvious to me that none of our electronics will stand the test of time. We will be a minor footnote in world history, which will be based solely on the preserved printed books we leave behind. This as irony will likely have it, will all be books that have been written by reality TV “stars”. Felmid was created in the mid 70’s with a few six sided dice, when my favorite Aunt gave me a copy of Dungeons & Dragons© for my birthday. I was not an avid reader prior to this, so I can credit this birthday present for birthing my creative nature. There was not much printed material in the box set but what was there forced you to become creative with your own ideas. Somehow I managed to talk my older sister into rolling up a character and playing with me. I lead the adventures and she played along. This lasted for several years until she found a new adventure of her own “boys”. Over those cherished years a seed had been planted which grew into my love for reading. Through the printed word a person can go on many adventures: You can climb mountains, slay monsters, solve crimes, jump out of airplanes, become a King or a Queen, all from the luxury of your favorite chair or snuggled up in your bed. I was so addicted to reading that I would hide under my blankets with a flashlight long after I was supposed to be sleeping. In my mind I have traveled the roads paved by many great authors. All of these great adventures have assisted in molding me into what I am today, I have a sense of humor, adventure, emotion, creativity and numerous other traits, but most importantly I have experienced many great things on paper that are just as much a part of me as all of the “real” events I have experienced during my life. I have suffered great loss in my life, but the first loss I experienced was an old yellow dog on paper. Not long after reading that story I experienced my first loss in life when my grandfather passed away. I was young at the time, but the fictional loss did help me understand exactly what the real loss meant; my grandfather who adored me, was gone forever from this world. The printed word can prepare a mind to do many things, not all books and stories take you on wild exciting adventures, but there is always something to be gained from reading. Hopefully at Felmid’s Junction you can find something interesting to read, something that you can share or some tip that you can use in your own adventures. |
AuthorL. Wayne Gilbert DBA as Felmid. I am 47 years old and I live in the south with my wife and our two dogs, Blue and George. Archives
March 2014
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