Once they are gone, the world will never be the same

Posted on by serenitisparkles

There are few left on this earth that remember a time when technology didn’t absorb us. Grandparents and great grandparents born in the early 20th century can recall a more simple time. Often they tell stories of games, dinner table conversations, living most days outdoors and having to use their mind for amusement. These are the people the young generation mocks because they can’t properly use a cell phone, or social media. But what they can do, and what they can teach us is more valuable than any other lesson available on earth today. When they leave us, many of their stories, their experiences, and their mannerisms will too. We will become more and more disconnected to human interaction and what that feels like. As the years go on and the elders pass away, there will be no one left to tell us why we should put our phones down. There will be no more phone calls on the other end with people who would rather talk than text.

Handwriting will be a thing of the past as will moments where we gaze into each others eyes while speaking. The social addiction of our phones and devices will have no more barrier to fight through. Because isn’t it our elders that tell us to remember to look each other in the eyes when we speak? Isn’t it our elders that remind us that beautiful days should not be wasted behind a video game console?

The world changed right before their eyes and they couldn’t possibly keep up because what felt good for them was the memories of a cup of milk at the kitchen table with mama. Not a phone, nor a tv, nor a video game could replace what secret to human experience that they hold. Covid-19 has been killing our elders off at a faster rate than anyone could have foreseen. My hope for you today is that you read this post, realize that time is running out, and learn from those who know better than us on how to be human.

Media Mind Control

Posted on by serenitisparkles

 

def; noun Mind Control is a process where a group or individual uses methods to persuade others to change their basic beliefs and values.  

Imagine you are introduced to a new friend.  A friend that is so captivating, you can’t take your eyes off of them.  This friend becomes the best keeper of your deepest, darkest secrets. They become your counselor, constantly steering you.  

Now imagine that this person has become the ONLY one in the world who knows you, COMPLETELY.  But this friend, was not a friend. This friend was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. This friend only wanted to profit off of everything they knew.  They wanted to sell your thoughts in order to control your next move. They had their own agenda. It was an agenda that if carried out, would end in you living every moment to maximize their profit.  

Most wouldn’t want a friend like this.  But we all HAVE this friend. Say Hello to MEDIA!

When I speak about media, I speak on it in a broad sense.  Media, in this instance, ranges from social media, streaming media(Youtube, Netflix, Hulu, etc), Search Engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc), and any other platform that DIRECTS and MANAGES end users.  

The media’s primary goal is to get closer to each end user(us), in order to analyze our behaviors, collect data, create a profile unique to each user, and then sell who we are to drive up sales for anyone willing to pay for our information.  All of the media platforms are built to know as much information as possible about each individual. Things like;

 

  1.  What time are we most active online?
  2. What memes do we share?
  3. What restaurants do we eat at?
  4. Which articles do we read?
  5. How long did we watch that viral video?

 

The fact that every platform knows this information is disturbing, but what’s far worse and more dangerous is that they also know things like;

 

  1.  Who your family members are.
  2. Who are the closest people to you?
  3. That you were sick last week.
  4. Today, you celebrate the birth of your newborn.

There will be a time when few can resist the life the Media has painted for you.  Few will turn everything off, look inside themselves, and find what they want in life.  We ALL have the capability to think for ourselves, and create an image of the world as we see fit.  If you “follow” the media, there will come a day when you can no longer LEAD. If you are a leader, BE a Leader and shut everything off, create your own thought process.

 

Time is Our Most Valuable Resource

Posted on by serenitisparkles

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If I lose a dollar, I can replace it with another, but, If I lose an hour of time, I will NEVER get that hour back.  My father once said to me, “I’ll sleep when I die.”  This was a man who woke up every morning at sunrise and didn’t go to sleep until 1 or 2 in the morning.  He couldn’t have been more right.  Today, that same man is asleep forever, may he rest in peace.

Watching so closely the full cycle of life, from my daughter being born to my father’s untimely death,  has taught me a crucial lesson.  Time is my most valuable resource.  Every moment of each day is an opportunity.  It can be an opportunity to share time with a loved one, an opportunity to write, an opportunity to take a chance, and the most beautiful fact is that every moment is an OPPORTUNITY.

Many of us live in the past, or look to the future.  How many of us actually live in the NOW?  Since my father’s passing I try to ALWAYS live in the present.  I am constantly asking myself, am I happy with my moment right now.  If I am not, then I quickly adjust myself to think positively and change course.  I do not know many things, but what I am definite of is that this is my moment.  My life span could last another 50 years, or 50 seconds, but what I choose to do with my moment is vital to my quality of life.

When we fail to look around us and bask in our present, we fail to see the beauty of living.  Life is a gift.  No matter how many times we fall short, we are alive.  We have something that is so precious.  We have something that for all of us, will run out.  So when you wake up in the morning, appreciate and utilize the time you are given because it will be gone before you know it.

Tech Savvy and Braindead

Posted on by serenitisparkles

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If you were born after 1992, your life will be completely consumed by the technological world around you.  You will have at least one device on you at all times that connects you to an invisible world called THE INTERNET.  Instead of physical interaction with people on a daily basis, you will communicate alone with a device that holds your entire life in your hands.

If all you know about the world is being connected to what many elders would call, technology, how are you in control of the world around you.  For a moment observe your surroundings.  Look at the person next to you sitting a few feet away and watch as they glare into that device.  A device so powerful it drains all of our attention.  Try interacting with that person and watch as they are drawn back to their device.  Will you ever really cherish life’s precious moments, or will you be expending all of your energy into a mindless piece of humanity?  Look around you once more and pretend it is 50 years ago.

The same person sitting next to you would have no choice but to look up and transmit the energy we all need to morally survive.   Real physically energy between us as people is necessary for humanity to survive, yet we can’t help but be connected.   Watch as the internet desperately sucks in your energy by creating standards that are soulless.  The commercials on every site flying by at every moment, put forth by the same companies that strive for your addictive nature.

You are a generation of young people absorbed by a non-living entity that has found a way to trick you into believing it is a way of life.  Run by private executives, with personal goals and purpose, the internet  has found a way to take life’s most precious gift in your life.  TIME is all we are given.  Time to experience and enjoy the warmth of each other.

Try to remember in your young life the last time you sat down and spent a significant amount of time disconnected to the internet and connected to a loved one.   These moments won’t happen very much in your life, if at all.  Your memories as you grow old and near the end will be spent mostly with a “thing”.  You won’t even understand life without the internet.  And if the private entities that run that “thing” decide to shut down or turn off, will you be left BRAINDEAD?

Stalked By Digital Footprints

Posted on by serenitisparkles

 

Stalked by Digital.jpgImagine a world where blood sucking corporations were in constant pursuit of our trail. Imagine that the closer they could get to you, the more money they would make. Imagine they were able to place a GPS tracker, watch every move we make, and witness every conversation we had.  They can even predict our next move. WELCOME to the world of BIG DATA and DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS.

Across the world and concentrated heavily in the US, there are businesses set up solely to watch our movements and study our habits.  There are devices designed to ensure the precise collection of every mark we make in the digital world.  They are like stalkers lurking in the darkness, recording everything about our lives, to then hand over our personal information over to the highest bidder.

If we all believed that world existed, we would all be much more careful of leaving a digital footprint trail. The reality is that everyday, with every click of a button and stroke of a key, we are creating a lifetime of digital footprints. We are volunteering personal and private data along with giving up our right to privacy to exist in a more “convenient” world. In this digital world, the end user (us)  searches for the easiest way through.  The more convenient the internet becomes, the more invasive corporations are in our personal lives.

As a corporation, using data collectors, called aggregators results in a 200% increase in sales within a 6 month span.  It is like pure gold.  Collecting these digital footprints allows a corporation to specifically target each user.  The aggregators  collect strings of data from each website you visit, all of your personal information(name, age, gender, location,  your most common websites (and any other website you have visited), and your social media posts.    They are not only collecting your clicks, they are collecting your context.

THEY COLLECT LITERALLY EVERYTHING YOU HAVE DONE ONLINE. They have millions of digital files identifying your long path of digital footprints.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights offers everyone the “Right to Privacy”.  Unfortunately for the internet, there is very little control, if none, over privacy laws protecting our personal information.  Unlike tangible places in the world, the internet is global and there is no worldwide policy that addresses the right of digital citizens regarding their digital footprints.  So there it is  digital citizens, we are subject to a world where everything we do is being tracked by corporations and governments, with little control over what is done with our personal data.  We are being watched by people we don’t have any relationship with and our most private data is available to anyone with enough money to hire these collectors.  The internet is becoming more important in our daily existence and if we do not become educated about the moves we make in the digital world, all of our freedoms that we enjoy in the physical world will be at risk.

In the words of Plato, “Good people do not need laws to act responsibly,  while bad people will find a way around those laws.”

Next time you tweet, email, create a profile, or post a photo, remember that not everyone using this data has your best interest at heart.   We will all die one day, but within the internet, our digital footprints will LAST FOREVER.

Is our inner voice following the leader?

Posted on by serenitisparkles

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If someone asked you to tell them about yourself and what you represented, would your answer be found on someone else’s Facebook page? I’m sure you have seen the same inspirational quotes and stories, the horrific acts of violence, and the newest billboard hits flooding the Facebook and Twitter news feeds.

With people spending 50% of their time on social media, it is very hard to tell what was derived from your own intuition and what was a result of someone’s post.  The bandwagon effect is real and is one of the oldest forms of human interaction.  It is an observation of social behaviour in which people tend to go along with what others do or think without considering their own beliefs or values.

The more lonely or socially incapable a person is, the more likely they will follow the bandwagon.  Facebook is an excellent example of the bandwagon effect.  A story is most likely to go VIRAL if there are key names leading the way such as famous personalities, musicians, and big brands.  Social media makes it very hard for an individual to gain importance through their own beliefs because the key to social media, is that what becomes VIRAL is what is considered important.  In the real world, for the survival and quality of our lives, standing up for our “gut feeling” is necessary.

In order for a person to live without regret, or to live the life THEY see fit, they must follow their intuition.  However, when the internet has found a way to be a part of half of your day, and 55 million people share status updates each day, how do we even hear what the voice inside is saying to you.

The fact is that Facebook and other social media networks are about following the leaders of the world.  The ones with the most followers are the ones that we follow and that we admire.  If they say it is a good idea, then chances are we will share that good idea to our friends on social media. We are entering a world where people spend most of their time socializing online, where, it is not the one with the voice of reason that is heard, but the one with the most popularity.

We have to remember that social media was derived by pop culture, it is a key player in creating followers around the world.    If you are trying to lead an individual path for your life, don’t spend too much time following the masses.   The moral of the story is, Listen to your gut because if you don’t then you are living someone else’s life.

I want to be famous when I grow up

Posted on by serenitisparkles

 

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There once was a time not too long ago where the majority of children would aspire to be doctors, policemen, teachers, astronauts, and even the President of the United States. This was of course before Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Justin Bieber.  Your teachers will tell you to educate yourself and you can be anything you want to be.

The truth is that famous doesn’t take much education. It might take a Youtube video going viral, a boyfriend/girlfriend in the “industry”, a stunt for huge media attention, or even a sex tape. The time of young people believing that becoming educated and skilled in a specific craft was gone when we opened the door to Reality TV and the internet. How can you honestly tell a young person it is more profitable to become a doctor, when being a Real Housewife puts you in a Mansion and you get to be a TV star.

We have people who are lawyers, doctors, and preachers trying to get a piece of the reality spotlight. And why wouldn’t they, when most reality stars are making anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000 per episode?

I have worked in and around the music industry for 10 years and I can’t tell you how many “aspiring artists” I have met. Most of these artists did not create music for the love of music, but for the love of fame and money. The fact is that out of the hundreds of music artists I have worked around, only one has made a hit on the radio, and even he was a one hit wonder.  The statistics for the aspiring famers are slim to none.  Getting a shot at being famous as a music artist, or reality personality is like winning the lottery.

The media and television stations portray fame as something everyone can get a piece of.  The reality is that you will probably spend your entire life trying.  Most people who enter the world of fame do so with some type of friend or family connections.  Others have found a way to be the most viewed on the internet and thus are able to sit side by side the famous. Fame is something you can acquire without being skilled or educated, which we saw first hand with the rise of the Kardashians.   The example has been set for the future aspirations of our children.

What reality TV should be doing is showing the actual reality of what happens in the life of a “famous” person.  With more money and attention, the problems are enormous.  99% of the people around you are trying to grab a piece of your spotlight.  You can’t use a public bathroom without being followed by someone trying to destroy your image.   Remember that a celebrity’s spotlight may be extremely bright, but it only means that there is a very dark side that we don’t see.  When your child looks at you and says, I want to be famous when I grow up, what is your response going to be?

Generation Overstimulation

Posted on by serenitisparkles

 

overstimulation.jpegJust as I grab my computer because I came upon a thought that moved me, I realized I cannot stop thinking.  Have you ever wondered how it was when computers were not in existence and the internet was something of the imagination?  Did you ever stop and think that there was once a time when people sat still and took in the moment?  What that must’ve been like.  To be disconnected and at peace with one thought and one focus.  Imagine not thinking about the Facebook status updates, or the need to take a picture and share it.  Imagine not having every show and movie that you love at the click of your finger.  How could we all have survived without those video and computer games and apps?  The question is not HOW we survived, but what was in like LIVING IN THAT MOMENT.

When I think of technology I don’t simply think of the computer screen I glare at or the newest iPhone.  I also tend to think of the not so obvious but vital advancements.  Had technology not been there, my glasses and contacts would not be a part of my daily life, which in return would mean that I couldn’t be watching my life in 20/20 vision.  I think about my mother who was able to fight cancer because of the treatments and advancements.  I also think about my grandparents who are in their eighties and able to live life as healthy active human beings.

Let’s break it down even further so that we can see this point of view clearly.  Is technology the cause of our overstimulation or is it something even more enticing?   With technology came the internet and with the internet came SOCIAL MEDIA.  Social media would in turn be the most addictive and overzealous happening of our generation.  Social media would be the one source that we as people would become consumed.  Social media, whether we are updating our status, showing off a new picture, blogging our opinions, or sharing videos about our lives, has become an accessory to who we are.

Like every addiction, there is a point where we should learn how to live without it, or it will become us.  Social media should be a piece of technology with which we have access, just maybe not so much.  On one hand, it allows us to share memories with people we may never get to see again, it allows us to be a part of the lives of the people we love most, even when we can’t share the same space.  But on the other hand, it takes from us, the most precious thing we have.  Time is what we are given.  It may be a small amount or a hundred years.  That we aren’t sure of.  As I type these words, I am living in this moment with time on my side.  Because I know this, I have not much more to say.  I will leave you with this; Playing with my daughter for 30 minutes and watching her become a brilliant person, or continuing to write, connected to this world wide web……  Goodbye EVERYONE!