Sunday Smiles – Connections

There are days when the internet makes me twitchy.  I log on to Facebook to be met head on with a barrage of negativity.  This candidate is a hate monger.  That candidate is a criminal.  I see “friends” tearing one another apart with snide comments, all because they sit on different sides of the political fence.  I read post after post disparaging this group or that, this thing or that.  Cops suck, the weather sucks, the traffic sucks, this restaurant sucks, work sucks…everything just sucks.

I “unfollow” a few political pages (I could have sworn I had removed them all).  I hit the “hide post” option multiple times as I scroll through my newsfeed.  I am almost thankful to come across a few cute cat memes.  I “like” a picture of an idyllic beach in Aruba.

I scroll a bit further, sigh a discouraged sigh, and prepare to log off.  But wait, what’s this?  Could it be?  An uplifting post?  Yes!  I click happily on a story about a former classmate’s 11-year-old son reporting on the NCAA Tournament for Sports Illustrated Kids.  I read with delight about one of the coaches taking the time to applaud this young man for his thoughtful question.  (You can view more about this here.)

Feeling hopeful, I read some other posts.  Oh look, a friend received good news on a medical issue.  Another friend just finished her first half marathon.  Yet another is celebrating buying a new home.  Yay! Here it is!  The good stuff!

Now it comes back to me, and I remember why I still log on to Facebook every day.  I do it not to learn the political leanings of friends and family.  I do it so that I can hear the news of their lives.  I continue to scroll and read in order to tie the past in with the present.  I put up with the negative aspects to reap the benefits of the positive ones.

I return again and again because of the connections.  We can cross the miles, cross the years, and cross the distance to come together as if we had never been apart.  We can share in each others’ victories and console one another during trying times.  We can use words to convey emotions from afar, as sure as the touch of a comforting hand on a shoulder.

Yes, it is the connections that I crave and that I seek.   It is the connections that lead me back to this blog after a writing sabbatical.  It is the connections that sustain our souls the way that food sustains our bodies.  It is the connections that bond us together as humans, in friendship and in love.

Thank you for being one of my connections.  Cheers! Karen

Stay connected with me and “like” Fill Your Own Glass on Facebook here!

photo credit:  www.pixabay.com

Sunday Smiles- The Comforts of Home

Here on the coast of South Carolina we are having a major weather event this weekend with historic rainfall amounts and substantial flooding.  There have been flood warnings in effect since late Friday, and we are looking at several more inches of rain coming today and tomorrow.  We are dealing with closed roads, overflowing  lakes and ponds, sinkholes, and beach erosion.  To the south of us parts of the cities of Georgetown and Charleston are closed down due to flooding.  Many of the roads around us are impassable and dangerous.   

Sunday Smiles- Do You Mind?

Sunday Smiles!

“Do you mind?”

Have you heard these words spoken in irritation, in frustration, or in anger? Have you heard them used more as an exclamation than a question? Picture the stressed out commuter after a long day at work as he is being jostled on the train, and when someone inadvertently steps on his foot he snaps, “Do you mind!” Or the woman sitting in the movies as the person seated behind her repeatedly taps his foot against her chair. She lets it go for a few minutes, but each little kick sets her jaw on edge until she finally turns and huffs, “Do you mind!” The person issuing this exclamation is often wearing an expression like this one:

Do you mind! (Not smiling…)

I, for one, prefer that “do you mind” be issued as the question that it rightfully should be. So if you don’t mind (ah, you see what I did there), please indulge me as I attempt to restore these three little words to their proper, pleasant use.