I have thoroughly enjoyed this class. I wish the class met twice a week and the schedule did not cut short and get all bent out of shape because of Covid as I really was interested in so much of what we learned throughout this semester. There are so many thoughts I wish to share on this final blog post to fully culminate this class and this really neat keepsake we get to keep from it, so bear with me as I hope to touch on all of the takeways.
What I love about this class is that it forced me to think about things deeper and things I hadn't really thought of through various perspectives prior. It made me look at my life through a different lens and brought closer to home some of the world's current events.
If you read the bio on the side of my blog, I mention "culture of truth." I coined this phrase years ago, as I was frustrated by the facades that surrounded both the media and my everyday life and interactions. Truth is a big principle of all I strive to seek, and if you head to my personal blog that I'm working to build, I've shared how I strive to create a culture of truth on and off the internet.
When I coined this phrase though, I did not realize how 2020 would bring such a deeper need and call for my passion of truth. This year, we have been met with a pandemic, but even scarier than this ambiguous virus is a media and culture so quick to live and hide in immense fear. Where did this fear come from? The media is the virus, as the media controls the behavior of the public. I'm not denying the gravity of this virus, but I do not believe fear is ever productive for a society and 2020 has proven the immense power of the media to control its people. Americans are being controlled by fear, and it's scary. That was a bit of tangent, but it touches on truth because emotions can sometimes prevent us from finding truth. Because emotions might be our reality, but they are not always the reality of the situation. I am firm in my belief that most individuals quarantined and scared to leave their house have trusted media sources for information without doing their own due diligence.
Prior to this course, I did not understand what a gift and blessing the First Amendment is to us and the gravity it holds for making America the "land of the free." And what a time in the world to take this course! During a pandemic and a pivotal election season! I have seen firsthand a slippery slope to censorship that is now occurring in this country. It's alarming how one party's voices have been silenced, and how media channels have "sold out" to biased and inauthentic reporting.
Changing course, it is time to discuss the internet's role in my life... a profound and humbling question keeps surfacing as more and more of my time becomes consumed by my phone and social media: Do we consume technology or does technology consume us?
My online presence is not large by any means, but it consumes a large amount of my time. I use Instagram, snapchat, and Facebook, and I have dreams to grow my blog that I recently started. Besides my blog which anyone can access, my social media profiles are private.
Social media consumes my life, which is sad to say, but the first step towards change is admitting the challenge. I allow my self-esteem and self-worth to be determined by a number of likes, and I allow comparison of myself and my life to others to rob me from joy. The grass is not green on the other side, it is green where you water it. If I spend more time watering my grass (my real life, offline) than investing energy into posting the perfect post or comparing my life to my followers or influencers, I think a profound change will occur within my self that will translate into all aspects of my life.
When I think about growing my blog, I see the double-edged sword of what seems like a too good to be true career path. This industry is called "influencers" and it's essentially turning your day to day life into a business and a brand. While I love to write and have a homemaker's desire to share all things from home decor, to travel, to fashion, to learning to adult, to chronicling my life, I don't want my personal life to be my professional life.
I do not know where the line is drawn for the public vs. private balance in this industry and it makes it unappealing to me even though sharing my life seems like something I would desire to do! I follow many mom bloggers, and while I love so much of their content, I don't think the industry is fair to their kids. It's giving celebrity-like consequences to everyday people. While the benefit of truly "working from home" is appealing, I question if this sharing on the verge of oversharing is something I want for my life and my future family.
Thanks to this class, I'm making more intentional choices with my online presence and never again will I take for granted our First Amendment. I am more passionate than ever to pursue and cultivate a culture of truth, and this starts by advocating our First Amendment when threats of censorship are upon us and by committing to due diligence before forming stances on current issues.
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