A Breather

The music and lyrics to a tune from my youth, A Place in the Sun by Pablo Cruise, have been on my mind lately; I can’t get them out of my mind.

Well everybody’s heart needs a holiday, some time
And everyone of us needs to get away, some how
Some laughing light hearted moods
Oh, sight seeing afternoons
And telling a joke or two
Cause everyday invites you to find your place in the sun.

I figure this  Pablo Cruise earworm has a connection to my recent obsession with serenity.  Absence makes the heart grow obsessive, I guess.

Despite the fact that my days are not frenetic, my brain seems to think they are.  There’s always something I need to know, someone I want read about, some thing calling out for my attention.  One of those things is Facebook.  So I think maybe it’s time for a break from Facebook.  The last time I took a break from Facebook, I felt like a weight lifted off of me.  I spent more time here, writing about what were, to me, the more important things on my mind.  I spent less time sharing my taste in music or poetry with people, many of whom I have never met in person, who may or may not care what music or poetry I like.  I spent less time spouting off about political firestorms I found offensive.

Serenity eludes me, even for a few moments, when I attach a sense of urgency to something unimportant.  Yet I allow myself to treat both the mindless drivel and the many interesting, positive things on Facebook as important and/or urgent.  Serenity is elusive amid the noise and chatter.

It’s not just Facebook. It’s news that isn’t news but, rather, just reporting.  It’s the rush of traffic on nearby streets.  Whether they’re off to work or off to the mall, people drive as if their destinations matter…as if something urgently important awaits them.  Serenity suffers.

Of course, an unsuccessful pursuit of serenity cannot be blamed entirely on external forces, nor entirely on one’s reactions to them.  I can blame it on…or trace it back to…my own inability or unwillingness to focus.

With these thoughts in mind, I may forego Facebook for a while.  I’ll see how disciplined I am.  The last time I withdrew from Facebook, I did it by deactivating my account, which crippled my ability to play some words games I enjoyed.  This time, if I forego Facebook, it will be purely a matter of discipline.

I will devote more time to writing about what’s on my mind, not simply reacting in words to the world around me. We’ll see.