The Balancing Act

In order to keep my balance, first of all I need to get some sleep, purrrrrr....

Has the millennial generation lost or found the right balance between social media and productivity? Jan’s post makes us think of where we should head, although the we here does not include me for I don’t belong to the millennial generation. But as I try to fit in the we, to fit in today's trend, I am more being brought into this inevitable consequential quandary. Understandably, being not a millennial, I have a different point of view which is just a personal resolve to the issue.

The social media is a very enticing preoccupation. It’s fantastic, trendy, with the potentiality of limitless possibilities, endless mutation to whatever it is there in store; a whole new world, albeit virtual, to wander, play, hop, sprint, stumble, goggle, twit, feed on, get creative, rant, rave, brood, freak, bedevil, humor, befriend, preach, connect, love, lust, plug, sell, litter, just about anything very similar to the real world, except sleep perhaps. Its multifaceted vastness tempts us to plunge as far as we can into the farthest extent of its influence. One can easily get loose, get hooked, or unwittingly be puppetted by its tantalizing orchestration. Lately, I realized that my real world should never be backstaged, and being the introvert (less social being) that I am, the rural person that I am, I may not be that comfortable with Social Media Optimization (SMO). It’s too urban for me.

For me, optimizing my social media presence would be tantamount to elevating myself to some kind of a celebrity status, with paparazzi tailing my every move. I am talking about its seething publicity and scope of openness. In the virtual community, even though I can call my every move a deliberate move (because here my move mirrors the thought I put into it), it can get unintentionally tactless at times, nonetheless making me vulnerable in some aspects. Overlapping/interloping social media networks where I can saturate my presence easily and quickly, become somewhat wanton that making my virtual self freely accessible in such a wide coverage is not at all fun, but at times, disconcerting and uncomfortable. Am I trying to make a valid excuse? The truth is, I AM NOT WORTHY OF THAT CELEBRITY STATUS, hehe…and this, being just my personal feeling representing my personal impression, is not an opinion to bookmark.

Well, there is the good side, actually, more of it.. And making the new thought-mind-time engrossing preoccupation a lot more good, is dependent totally on us -on how we are. This preoccupation need not be something that gets unhealthy and compulsive -an obsession that destructs the real world that’s suppose to be the world we need to live in and breath out. And my thought on productivity would be to get profoundly productive, that is, have a valid existence in my real world -not become an invalid there, even though there is the desire to make sense in the virtual community, and becoming a sight here could give more self boost.

My cat curiosity brought me into the arena of bloggers, and I resolve to just remain the curious cat, for I can see no possibility to let loose of this mouse I have here, haha… Briefly, it had me a bit stressed on the thought of keeping pace with those who sprinted the blogosphere, and to fit in among the “equals” because I am the oddball, the orb with the one-of-a-kind-dent, hehe…

Soon it made me rediscover my true self, again. Gaining friendships and not necessarily publicity has what made me resolve to keep grounded here. And it’s finding worthy friends, not necessarily many friends that’s made this preoccupation meaningful. The rest of the perks, I don’t mind not cultivating or fertilizing enough, I have found what I like to find: good friendships which for me rhymes to priceless treasure. While I was in the purlieu of the blogosphere, I realized that what I missed most isn’t the virtual escapades but the cranial rendezvous after each posts, not exactly in my turf, but most especially in your territories where it’s more lively.

Here in the net, primarily in the blogosphere, I find it rewarding to be somewhat making sense with my thoughts. Friendster and Facebook, and other social sites are more on the window dressing side -just the profile, that’s how I find it. While here, we bring at the forefront our thought bubbles, like what I have mentioned in my older post, and that adds up some weight to our profiles. We are then being perceived as some persona with more depth. The impact goes deeper than when one simply sees our smiling portraits. I have been enlisted to Facebook due to the prompting of a friend, but I never trod there so far, I find the layout like I am in the middle of a busy street—it’s dizzying. I still prefer the rural appeal of Friendster, there’s less meddling there.

Anyways, I can get obsessive with friendships, like I might say, ‘hey, Jan, I miss you calling me oddball’, or say ‘Dee, will you help me outlaw my in-law?’, or say 'Dee, how can I keep trendydee?' hahaha…or check on Beth because she is adorable and charming, and she possesses the beauty and simplicity that accords her the angelic aura that when I get to visit her page I find it irresistibly calming, blissful, very homey. And yes, a lot more wonderful things about more wonderful people that are here…

Getting the opportunity to know one another here is just one huge achievement for me -the orb with the one-of-a-kind dent, that Social Media Optimization (SMO) may just be too humongous for me to handle.

From Reading the Book of Jan Page 3/12/09