January 8, 2013
-
{a powerful web}
late friday night i was just catching up on some of the blogs i like reading.
kelle hampton’s small things being one.
her recent post about criticism of her blog {jan 3rd post} struck a nerve with me!
“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”
the world of social media is really just nuts when you think about it..it’s like high school on steroids.
the pettiness and comparison. the insecurity and trying to impress.
endless views and opinions and arguments!
and yes! there’s always that group of “mean girls!”whoever named it the world wide web seemed to know what they were talking about.
it’s an easy place to get sucked in and tangled up~
especially for us as women, because we can be so emotionally driven.i get that people are going to disagree. judge. even not like each other. that’s okay. it’s life.
and no. not every person who raises a negative comment is some big fat ugly woman who’s jealous!
with anything that seems to involve people comes vulnerability. the risk of being hurt.
and criticism drives us to self reflect. to hopefully grow.but bottom line – do we give the internet far too much power in our lives?
woman complain about blogs they don’t like.
pinterest leaving them overwhelmed.
facebook wasting their time.
but is it really that complicated?
if something doesn’t feel healthy.. don’t go there!
click the x and walk away.when i read kelle’s blog i thought, so what if she wants to “poop glitter.”
don’t people have better things to do with their time?
leave the poor girl alone and go find someone who doesn’t poop glitter.
someone who poops daggers and nails instead..
sounds more enjoyable to read, eh? and though many of us might never leave a hurtful comment, or spew our opinions about..
i’m sure we could all say there’s been times when something we’ve read or seen online has effected our day!
changed our mood. made us cranky. kept us up at night. had us talking outloud to our computer!but we don’t have to allow these things to control us!
to become such huge distractions.sometimes i wonder if part of the remedy might be simply moving our focus from the faces online to the faces right around us!
putting our time into the needs within our community! our church.remember the chick-fil-a uproar?
facebook became the battleground of political views and who could post the most spiritual sounding status.
imagine if we as christians put as much energy over feeding the poor as we did into arguing over a chicken restaurant?
we might actually get something done!as a mom trying to raise kids in such a social media crazed world i feel an even stronger call to attention.
the responsibility of guiding them right and with wisdom through it all.
being so aware that more is caught than taught..
and what we allow in moderation in our own lives, our kids will do in excess!
{excess- the state of exceeding what is normal or sufficient} -webster’s.
sound familiar?if i don’t want a device constantly in their hands, i better make sure my eyes are up from mine.
attentive to what is going on. what they’re looking at…
gramming. tweeting. facebooking. tumbling. following. scrolling. clicking. watching. gawking at.
and man! even reading all those words doesn’t it make you want to just go grab a good old classic book!
to sit the family down and read out loud and capture back again that essence of times gone by. simpler. less rushed. more private. quiet!
at the end of the day i can’t help but to feel we give this whole “world” here within this web far too much importance in our lives.~
and i use the word we very loosely.
i really mean one big bold giant, I.and there’s a challenge before me, even urgency within, to keep this place in the perspective it belongs.
it’s a great tool. a connection.
but when it starts feeling unhealthy, it’s simple..
don’t go there!kinda like that chinese restaurant at the mall food court i always think i like!
amber.
Comments (36)
I couldn’t agree with you more Amber! You say it so well! Love this that you shared “if I don’t want a device constantly in their hands, i better make sure my eyes are up from mine.
attentive to what is going on. what they’re looking at…”
Reminds me of my little girl who will cup my face in her hands and say look at me mom, look at me! Our values are truly in our choices/actions not our words.
Thank you for the reminder to choose our time wisely!
What I always say about the internet? If you don’t like it, you don’t have to look at it.
I say that about other stuff too but right now I can’t remember a single example. 
I bet that people who are negative online are probably negative IRL too. I guess you could say their time spent online is saving some poor soul from getting a load in person . . haha
Since Christmas we have not had a TV, no Wii, no ipads, ipods and whatever else they were used to…didn’t have internet till this weekend…ha, it wasn’t long before the kids were saying they’re bored
It has made us use our brains and create things to do…I’m reminded back in the day when kids played hopscotch, jumped rope, played marbles and created things with sticks and stones, etc. Families were closer…I’ve been thinking I should get some books and read to the kids – the old classics 
Life is simpler that way!
amen, and AMEN!!
I think I’ll go poop some glitter.
My wife says women are generally more cruel to each other than men. It may be true.
@aSeriesofFortunateEvents - Beth! Hahaha. I love your comment.
@Roadkill_Spatula - i agree! must have something to do with our raging hormones or something.
good luck w/ that glitter!!!
Yes, yes Amber…the simple life sounds good.
That was a good post she wrote…and it actually made me think of you last February.
The way you handle things so graciously, even when it hurts and someone is just being mean for no reason.
Thanks for writing this…we’re going to color now!
*imagine if we as christians put as much energy over feeding the poor as we did into arguing over a chicken restaurant?* Oh you nailed it right here, Amber. My heart exactly. Being moved to action for love is way more productive than spewing our personal positions in anger.
Wonderful post!
excellent amber!!
“Disagree to disagree.” - Uncle Si, Duck Dynasty
But seriously, I’m with you. If you don’t like it, click the “X”.
preach it sister
I. LOVE. THIS.
so much.
it’s such a constant challenge to not let the world of media and technology control our world. and like you said, if we don’t want our kids constantly on some kind of social/techy something or other, we have to make sure that WE aren’t either!
and to be outward focused. not just what makes us feel good or bad, but to look past the end of our nose, our walls, and see and care about someone else. for real.
xoxo
You have a wonderful way of putting things Amber. I think I will just send you topics and you can write them out for me
Meaning, I agree! Click the X is a good one. I love being able to connect with the outside world, especially in this season, but it shouldn’t control our daily life. It has at times. My personal pet peeve is when I see mom’s out at the playground or taking a walk with their children and they are texting or phoning constantly. Put down the device. Look at the butterflies and flowers…ya know?!
Amen. Sometimes I’m like “stop the madness!” And to find a good balance can be challenging. Great thoughts. A quote came to mind that i like ” Geared to the Times, Anchored to the Rock.”
but is it really that complicated?
if something doesn’t feel healthy.. don’t go there!
click the x and walk away.
You are fantastic thinker! Agreed! Wise!
And so true – INDEED!
@ABAHM - yes, so true! OR.. a husband and wife out to dinner and both are on their phone!!!!
@chambray7 - love that quote, t! anchored to THE ROCK is the only way to survive!!
Amen, Amber. Right on!!
love the photos of your daughter.
I LOVE this!!!!!!! If you don’t like it, then for goodness sake, click the x and walk away. We have enough stuff plopped into our life that we don’t like that is completely out of our control and we have to learn to be okay with it…..why would you do something you don’t like? Just so you can whine about it????????????????????????????? And yes, good reminder to not be so obsessed with even good media. I think we’re going to see a lot of adult ADD at some point b/c our brains are not hardwired to see such a continuous bombardment of information that is meaningless (yet we give it depths of meaning). Most of what we read online doesn’t really make us think or activate our brains well like a book or game does. And so we’re slowly just going to make our brains stupid and unable to concentrate. Yeah, I know that’s exaggerated, but honestly, I think there’s a little bit of truth in it.
I often think how much more difficult parenting must be now than when I was raising my 3. (I’m sure generations past probably thought that about my generation.) We most always didn’t have a TV; we didn’t get a computer until the kids were pre-teen, and then no internet for YEARS; no cell phones; and we never let them have handheld devices, if there even was such a thing back then. So much of what’s available nowadays simply wasn’t then, so I didn’t have to think about these things. I do remember being driven to encourage their imaginations and to play outside, etc., but I think it must have been a bit easier than you young moms have it. I know I get sucked in so easily myself!!
I love the desire of so many here to get a grip on things, though. Childhood is gone in a minute, and one day you might look up from your cellphone to find they’re all grown up, and you have no idea how they got that way! Seems like alot of precious mamas read your blog, Amber!
have you ever heard of checking blogs on your phone in a bathroom stall? a dear friend of mine does. probably more than one actually…
makes sense to me. and then there’s this. checking on friend’s blogs at half past bedtime. ever heard of that? ;D *yawn.* me too. love this post. and my tired brain has a bunch of thoughts about this. but mostly just amen. and a big thanks for saying it so well. <3
@smilesbymiles - so agree. and my dad always teases and says that some day people will be sitting around in nursing homes w/ twitching thumbs from all the years of having a device of some sort in our hand!
@pettybunch - yes! they’re all precious mama’s for sure!!!
@down_onthefarm - checking blogs in bathroom stalls? what kind of weirdo does that!!
Sooooo where can I stalk you on Instagram?
<3 Good post – you’re my lil’ Kelle, and I like you a heckuva lot more!
Thank You for this. You are wise beyond your years.
AMEN! I don’t have a clue what poop glitter is, but AMEN!
This is a great post, and a great reminder! Thanks for putting into words what we all need to hear and think about.
for the most part, i try to stay away from things that feel unhealthy, but every now and then, I find myself sucked into some drama. Mostly as on onlooker, so usually no one knows that I am fuming. there was this blogger that made me mad almost every time she wrote. i didn’t know her personally, so i could’ve simply stopped going there, but I didn’t. Then I noticed a softening in her, and soon after, she posted something that explained it all. now she doesn’t post much, and i am kind of sad, because i think what she has to say would be so good.
anyway, i do agree about just not going there when something is not beneficial.
Good, good words. I have often thought, too, about how fitting the word “web” is.
Needing wisdom to click the X and be fully engaged in people and life and beauty all around us here too. I love the freedom I feel when I don’t waste time online. And I want it deeply for my kids.
read that post from KH and loved it too — oh my could I relate through and through and she put it amazingly well. Good words you added along the same lines of clicking out. Back years ago there were a few sites that really got to me because they brought back to me bad memories or feelings/along the lines of legalistic living. One day I was like, “Why? Why even go there EVER?” So much more freedom. Writing on or posting on regardless of what others say or feel or think and feel the need to say — it truly has been and is a growing thing isn’t it??? It never feels good, and it always awakes in me like, “Never blogging again” for a few seconds. . . and then God comes in and speaks to the heart and well, it really does grow you in grace:)
Have a super duper week.
so true!
I like it when you preach!
been mulling over some of the same things myself.
I’m just going to stop there, at the risk of getting on a soapbox.
So, ditto!!
hope your thursdays is marvelous!!
would love to pick your brain since a couple of your kids are a few years ahead of mine. Wow! I feel like I’ve been catapulted into Phase 2 TOTALLY unprepared!
thankful for God’s grace……grace2be……
see ya!
SO true! All of it!