Each day on Blackberry Messenger i post a new thought in my status.  As of today I’ve been doing it for 168 days ( Day X: thought).  I lovingly call it “days”.  It’s tradition for me, instead of counting down to something i “count up“…to life, uncanny really, but it helps me to put my previous day into perspective.  Anyhow, i digress.  Occasionally, my Uncle will comment on some of these thoughts with useful feedback.  However one of the things he said about this particular day struck a note.

“I think you need to disconnect from the world each day for a little, reflect on you, get to know you, Love you…”

I’ve always thought about it, but never really gave it any serious consideration. The grind of day-t0-day life can indeed be tumultuous, but i think an hour or so out of the day  to”recoup” is only fair. We spend so many years trying to accumulate wealth, network and grow, but so many people neglect to REALLY develop a relationship with themselves in the process.  Have you ever wondered why you can never really write about yourself and your good friends tend to know you much better than you know yourself or be able to highlight things about you that you fail to see.

There are 24 hours in each day, maybe it would be prudent of me to reserve even just one hour daily  to know myself a bit more.  After-all, they say the best relationship one can have is with themself, and it’s one relationship I’m stuck in so i might as well make the best of it.

If you’re curious, day 168 is:  So easy to hate, but yet so hard to love.

Some people will say that it’s “Just twitter“, but many can’t deny that the service has facilitated great friendships & by contrast has destroyed a few also.  It may be hard for some to appreciate how significant something that seems so fatuous is. But times have changed ( and continues to change) and the way we  communicate has evolved also. It does take some getting used to and many will probably never see the  value of it, because humans are creatures of habit and Twitter for many isn’t a habit and will probably never become one because of their unwillingness to change/adaption.

How different is it if you insult someone via twitter in contrast to insulting them in person? The medium may be different and unconventional, but the effect can be just the same ( hurtful). Therefore i think it’s wrong for people to say “It’s just twitter”. Like it or not twitter is apart of our generation and it has amassed quite a following in a short period of time ( Over 10 million people). So whether you choose to acknowledge it to be substantial or not it’s still there and behind many tweets are real people and prospective friendships to be made.

I’ve been fortunate enough to meet many great people  exclusively through twitter and i have developed timeless friendships with just as much. Some of these people I can name without a moment’s hesitation @aundra, @eddiane, @franarexic, @iamsbee, @MarcGrandmaison, @Zaineysmummy, @jamaipanese @MissBrownin et al.

So, the next time you say “It’s just twitter” remember that behind every username ( robots etc aside) is a REAL person with REAL feelings and anything you say to them there has the potential to help or hurt just as much as it would if you said it to their face.

N.B You can apply this to any other service that facilities human-to-human socialization online ( i.e facebook, tagged etc)

For those who are not familiar with twitter, Commoncraft.com has put together a brief video with an explanation, embedded below is the video:

On March 3,2010 @ 7:21 PM I disabled both my Facebook and twitter account. Why? no other reason but to challenge myself. Challenge myself by taking away things that provide solace for me. A few days ago I opted to “give up” something for lent.  Sad to say that failed horribly; for many reasons really. Poor planning and deciding to do such a thing on a whim did not help at all. I should have at least prepared myself mentally for the days leading up to “D-Day”.  So, this time around I’m giving up 2 things I like love dearly. I’ve prepared myself mentally, so that should help.

Doing this will help me to challenge myself in other ways–Post this “10 Day Challenge”. It will help me to challenge my procrastination habits, my resolve, my insecurities  etc.

With that said I will be for the next 10 days updating this blog post with  a sentence or two on each day leading up to the 10 days starting tonight.

Day 1: I’m not so concerned about what is happening on Facebook, I’m probably more curious about Twitter.

Day 2: Suddenly 10 days seems like a long time. Perseverance!

Day 3: Day 3, I’m a mess.  I especially miss twitter. I know to some this may seem trivial, but imagine becoming very acquainted with something only to have it taken from you in an instant.  Here, a scenario: You have an awesome car– an Audi for argument’s sake. You drive this car to work everyday. You love your car dearly and your comfortable with it, but one day you decide to challenge yourself. You decide to use Public Transport for 10 days, i can guarantee you that after the third day or so you’ll start becoming irritated. If you don’t think so, try it. challenge yourself. Give up something you love for 10 days and keep me updated by commenting on this article or do it on your own blog and post the post link here. *sighs* 7 more days!

Day 4: When you’re preoccupied you tend to forget about the things that “matter’

Day 5: How quickly the time passes. My source for Inspiration, Zenhabits.net recently did an article that really puts things into perspective.  An excerpt: “If you choose to give your attention to your friends, family and other loved ones — really give your attention to them instead of only half-heartedly while also checking text messages and emails and other updates — your life will be rich in many ways.” Read the full article here

Day 6: 10 Days? Ugh, this is a joke. Friday here i come!

Day 7: It really gets easier each day. Then again, it may be because this hiatus is coming to an end.:)

Day 8: There is no greater inspiration than good friends, 2 days to go.

Day 9: On Day 9 I decided to end my hiatus from Facebook and Twitter prematurely.

My fellow blogger Aundra, over at Keys to my Karma, came up with a cool idea.  Its like this:

If you could somehow postmark a letter back through time to your younger self, what age would you choose and what would the letter say.

She asked me to write a letter and it ended up like this:

Dear Gordon,

Stop being naive, seriously.  As you grow older your perspective on life will change.  You’ll move from being an indifferent, cynical pre-teen to an overly enthusiastic, overambitious young adult; can you feel that youthful exuberance? Maybe you should listen to your parents a bit more too and choose better friends.  You know, those friends that will motivate, inspire and help cultivate that burning desire for greatness you’ll EVENTUALLY feel in the bottom of your stomach, yeah–those friends.  Oh, and selecting cool mentors help too (You’d be amazed how many people are expecting great things from you, they would be more than delighted to help you, trust me. )

Anyway Gordon, the last thing i want to sound like is a nagging adult trying to mold you. I know better than anyone else that you’re a rebel and when someone tries to push, you’re just going to pull, but don’t worry much about that, you’ll learn how to be a proper rebel. The one that does not subscribe to the status quo, the one that will dare to be different and be an example to and lead his generation forward in earnest.

Lastly, don’t live your life in regret, don’t worry about who you are, instead focus on who you will become, because that keeps you motivated.

You’re bad ass Man.

Sincerely,

Future you.

So it was 4:19 AM on January 7,2010 and I was up, not doing the unusual. Reading whatever it is i like to read online in the wee hours of the morning–best time to read, it provides true clarity. But, this night was a little unusual, i did my  rounds at one of my favorite spots online, Twitter ( I guess with close to 14,000 tweets, that’s no secret).

Doing the slightly mundane task of going through my tweets ( For the unfamiliar a tweet, for me anyway is materializing your thoughts in 140 characters or less and broadcasting it for the world to see) expecting to see much inanity at this hour, but out of nowhere i saw this tweet from a friend of mine. “Ok guys Renée is having labour contractions! We’re going IN!”

That tweet, albeit in 140 characters or less provokes so much emotion, for me and ESPECIALLY for the person who is actually experiencing  it. It really let’s you appreciate how different the world is now and how much we should appreciate it because 10-20 years ago him letting literally millions of people know instantaneously what was happening would be impossible, it also had me thinking. With the plethora of children born each day, each month and each year the thought of a child making it’s way into the world would become somewhat of a familiar feeling to all of us, but it can never be this way for experiences of this nature i.e having your first child, Sex, Graduating from High School, your first job etc you can never truly appreciate until you EXPERIENCE IT. That to me is a GREAT thing, for no matter how many articles you read how many experiences people relate to you or how many videos you watch you can never really Comprehend or Appreciate as i call it “The Simple joys” of life until you experience it.

The world can be good, and so can the people in it. Congratulations on becoming a Dad Samuel, enjoy everything that comes with it, all the best to you and your wife.

Simple but seemingly complex and unique feeling for us all.

As Sextus Propertius was known for saying , (not sure what it means, but it definitely sounded like an awesome blog title at the time)…or simply “Absence makes the heart grow fonder”, but does it really? The world may never know. Anyhow, moving on to less mundane stuff

Was i missed? If I’m to go by Google’s web analytics then yes, i was indeed missed ( My blog has seen a 5% increase in hits in the last couple of months) , and you know that makes me feel all warm inside ( Maybe it was My post about Miss kitty, Love you Chic,  but i still don’t see you doing anything about your weight, work on that will you). It was only a temporary hiatus though i had no real reason to stay away, i just found it very hard to do a paragraph or more for the last 2 months, blame Twitter ( Follow me, i tweet as much as i talk, and that’s A LOT).

Anyhow it’s Christmas, alas i probably wouldn’t have remembered if  it wasn’t for those annoying lovely children singing the Christmas claro ad every 5 milliseconds on tv and radio…seriously; my fellow Jamaicans seem to share the same sentiments also .  It’s really nice ad though you can’t help but sing along with it, it has this get happy and go feeling to it ( Especially the little girl with the absent incisors, how original, I’m sure many people had a collective “aww” while watching),  makes a guy want to go out and get a claro device, but seriously i think this  CAN  be considered child labor. If you observe  the little girl at 37 seconds into the ad you’ll see how long she held that note for…that’s preeeetty impressive ( and hard, just ask Denny). My favorite claro ad of all time though is this. Congrats to Admark Jamaica for the good work, and no dammit I’m not being paid, and this is not a sponsored claro post or anything of that nature….well maybe, but why would it matter.

Anyhow, i have some cool things planned for 2010, keep an eye on my blog, have a Great Cashmas Christmas and Wonderful New Year ( Full of taxes, and very hungry people).

P.S Tell me my new blog theme is awesome, make me happy.