Lately I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. I know we think all the time, it’s not a new thing. But I’m more aware of my thinking lately. How the things I think about are connected with one another, and not just amorphous blobs of thought in my brain. Different things in my life are slowly falling into place, lining up so to speak. Something I’m working on at work somehow has correlation to something I’m thinking about doing at home.

For example, I’ve been writing my book again. And that’s usually not that big a deal. It happens quite frequently that I will sit and do some writing from time to time. But the other day, as I was writing, or editing, I started to really see what it was I was creating. I began to see what the final product would be. The overall picture of the story, the book in printed form, is now a very real image to me. I feel as if this year has actually been a very good year for finishing things that I’ve started. Following through with ideas and things I’ve wanted to do. Finally reading books I’ve had for years. Eating at restaurants I’ve said I wanted to try out. Getting my tattoo finished. Growing a garden.

I even got this blog up and running, which was no easy feat. It took me months of coding and figuring things out before I finally got it to look the way I wanted it to.

Sometimes I think a lot about everything, and everyone. How we’re all living lives that no one else really knows about. For the most part people know who you are from what you put out into the world. Most people see the surface you, the one that you show most of the time. It’s the you that you allow people to see. And for some people, that is the same person as the one underneath the surface. But we’re all complex people, and most tend to keep things to themselves. I’d like to think it’s a defense mechanism of sorts, so that we don’t show all our cards. Once someone sees too much we might feel threatened. There’s no way of knowing what people will do if they know too much about us.

But I think I’m seeing a change in people, and the way we let others into our world. Since the introduction of social media, like facebook and twitter, anything that anyone is thinking about can be put on display. And we have no control over how people will take that information. We might share out thoughts about a movie we just saw, or instagram a picture of the meal we just ate. Piece by piece, we’re sharing a bit of ourselves in all the things we share on social media, and that reflects on who we are as people. But it’s done in such a way that only those people who care will really take what we put out there to heart. And those are the ones that we eventually find we connect with the most.

And sometimes people share things on facebook but it doesn’t say anything about who they really are. They share because they want pity, or they want others to feel a certain way about things they are going through in life. They share things that really shouldn’t be shared on social media. They like something on facebook, and now everyone can see exactly what they “like.” You really don’t need to be a psychologist to figure out how some people use social media to their advantage, for manipulating others, rather than using it to connect with close friends and family. It’s really taking social interaction to a whole different playing field. Less actual physical contact, and more mental workout.

I’ve been trying to evaluate my own use of facebook lately, because at one point in my life I did share just about every thought I had on it. Nowadays I’d rather connect with people in person and if you want to know what I’m up to you’ll call me or invite me somewhere. It’s a great site for keeping up with people you don’t see at all, or who live far away. But sometimes I wonder if it’s hurting more people than helping. Connecting through the internet can be an isolating experience.

Email can have the same effect, although I tend to think email is just an electronic extension of writing letters, which are personal. I used to write letters all the time when I was younger, to friends I moved away from. And I think that’s why I still love writing emails to far away friends. It’s much quicker to get to them than regular stamped mail, and you can keep track of it.

I’m not sure if I knew where I was going with this post when I started out. I think I was attempting to write something else entirely. But my thinking is all over the place. Getting to know people in your life is such an important thing, and sometimes we lose sight of those that we care about the most. Sometimes they lose sight of us. The minutiae of daily life often gets the best of the best people, and they are unable to change. There is often a lot said about the things we don’t share on social media, the blank spaces, days without any updates. When people suddenly stop talking it makes you wonder what happened to them. Are they alright, or are they just unable to get to a computer or phone? Sometimes people take “sabbaticals” from social media, and then never come back.

I like the middle ground, having the ability to interact, but not doing it all the time. Sharing when it really strikes you to, not just cause you’re bored. Making what you share meaningful, interesting, or knowing that someone out there will be glad you did.