I Keep Thinking How Young You Can Die From Old Age...

Right out of the gate, I may as well tell you that this will not be a photo blog today.  My reasoning is because the majority of my pictures are taken on my iPhone and I did the unthinkable over the weekend;  I turned mine off.

I started writing blogs about technology taking over our lives in the worst ways a few years ago and since that point, my ideas from back then have been ringing more and more true and effecting so many more people.  Back in the time when I actually updated my Facebook status on a daily basis, I spent more time on that site than I realized.  Actually, I spent so much time on Facebook that I have a few frequent "posters" and "sharers" blocked from my newsfeed because they clogged it up with three or more close-up pictures of their face everyday, "Share this if you love Jesus!" posts, and/or hash-tagged status updates about baby poop, junk food, or something to inflate their ego.  

Rather than continuing to be annoyed by social media and technology, I changed my way of thinking.  The first step was to kill my DirecTV, which I did.  My second was to stop updating my Facebook (other than telling people I have posted a new blog, which if you have noticed is really all I use it for now).  The third item on my list was to start a blog and let anyone read it who wants to;  something with real content and a passion for my writing behind it rather than a picture of my dinner plate with "nom nom" as the descriptor.  Back to my iPhone...

This past Friday, I woke up in an odd state.  Something about that day just did not feel right to me from the instant my alarm clock went off and I spent the whole day unhappy for reasons which I really have no explanation.  I spent that entire day in a messy fog.  When Saturday morning came around and I arrived at the shop to finish a project, I looked at my iPhone only to make the decision that it needed a nap.  Considering the way I was feeling about myself and the other thoughts clouding my brain, the less distractions, the better for me.  I turned it off.  I never turn it off.  

My phone stayed in it's own little state of hibernation all day Saturday and I only turned it on after midnight on Sunday so I could have an alarm clock to wake me up.  I went about my day on Sunday and left my iPhone upstairs, in my bedroom, all alone.  A good friend called me sometime around three o'clock and that was when I realized I had left it on.  I did call her back and we had a really great conversation that I personally needed to hear in my state of haze.  A few minutes after that, I turned it off again.

Needing some new blog topics, and wanting to separate myself from any form of computer, I went to a restaurant by myself on Sunday night and sat at the bar.  The bartender was a cute girl in her early twenties and after sitting there with my pen and paper for about thirty minutes, writing down some ideas for my blog, we started to talk.  We had one of those talks where it feels like you have known each other for a few years and not just half an hour, if that makes sense.  School, working in a restaurant, some goals, how incredibly annoying parents with "picky" kids are, that sort of thing.  I am not entirely sure why but that conversation I had with her brought me back down to being myself for about an hour.  I was speaking to someone on a real level, without text messages or distractions of social media getting in the way.  So, at the end of the day, after putting away the keyboard, I was able to have a meaningful and wonderful conversation with my friend that afternoon and a great talk with a complete stranger that night.  No distractions, just real voices talking to each other.  Doing that has been too far gone for me over the past few years. 

I know what you are thinking.  The bartender, right?  Nothing came of it because if you know me through actual life or only through my blogs, you are aware that I go into conversations with new people without expectation or motive;  I did not even catch her full name to tell you the truth.  I have nothing to prove to anyone and I try so hard to just be myself and not impress anyone.  Making a new friend is more important to me than trying to make myself look appealing for whatever reason.  I try to see value in people and relate to them;  I like simple, unassuming conversation.  Nothing more.  You should try it sometime... You could make a new friend, or better yet, get a little bit closer to yourself.

Am I happy now?  No.  But I am still trying hard to be optimistic about life.

Grace and Peace,
-Drew

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/drew.silvers
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/drewcoustic
Email: drewcoustic@gmail.com

The lyrics in the title of this blog are from this song: