Try to find the error. It’s impossible.
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Did you know that 80% of UCSD students could not find the error above? Repost this with the title “what’s wrong here”, and when you click “post “, the answer will be really obvious.
What are you? What are you supposed to be? Are the two the same? Not in the beginning, they weren’t.
Makeup, pictures, public online profiles on which we are able to present ourselves the way we wish. Why? Why do we need such things? None of that is an accurate representation of who you are. It’s an accurate representation of who you wish you were.
Nobody looks pretty all the time (there is a difference between pretty and beautiful, think it over). Nobody has only nice things said about them. Nobody has it together all the time. You win, you lose, that’s just life. Now of course, there are some who never fail to bring this to our attention; “OMG look how gross I look hereeee” “falling apart, one day at a time… when will he come back? *dramatic status update LOL*”…. but that’s not what I’m talking about here.
This is where the world is headed: More and more organic human interaction, face to face, voice to voice, heart to heart, is being replaced with text, photograph, etc. Someone says something rude about you on your online profile? You can delete it. Someone posts a less than attractive photo of you? You can hide it from the world. Don’t like what you’re hearing, or don’t know what to say? You can wait a week to text back, with some earth shattering retort that just saves the universe, or WHATEVER. You can plan out, time, and control people’s impressions of you, as long as you don’t know them all that well and don’t see them very often.
In the human world, if someone says something rude about you, you don’t generally get a podium to speak about it on. You can’t tell all the random strangers your take on it. If you don’t look completely amazing one day, you can’t just pretend it never happened. Whoever you see that day sees you. When we live this way, we become more accepting of mistakes, human nature, imperfections, and find it easier to focus on the positive, nice things, the I-witnessed-that-less-than-graceful-moment-but-I-love-you-anyway times, and we learn to let go of what never would’ve happened. Why? Because we actually see other humans making the same mistakes, feeling the same feelings which we so often mistake as unique to our lonely hearts.
In a world without technology, people who live in LA live in LA (haha I love using LA as an example. There are people who live in LA, and then there are LA people). We don’t see all these styled, press conference beauties who have teams of people helping them be portrayed the way they wish to be portrayed; NOT how they are. Haha its amazing the way some people think they know celebrities, just because they’ve read things about them. How do you know they really said that? Why, because you read it? How do you know they believe that? Because they said it? What if they said their left pinky toe is purple? Yeah it’s true, because they said so.
Sorry in advance, this is going to be like a frickin novel. I just have so much to say and so many thoughts bouncing around in my head and I haven’t written in a long time. Sooo yeah, if you don’t wanna read the whole thing, YOU DON’T HAVE TO. Hahaha anyway;
When we shift more toward the online lifestyle, specifically the negative, too-much-internet aspects of it, it’s just a whoooole lot of unnecessary. How many times have you contacted someone on facebook after you randomly met that night, have no connections like school, work or activities, and would normally never see them again? Let me guess, you messaged them, exchanged numbers, hung out under the moonlight discussing literature and politics, and now you’re happily married and you’re so glad facebook helped you find your one, true love.
Right?
HAHAHA oh yeah it happens all the time!
Seriously, the internet is not God. It’s not Satan either. It has good, incredible powers and opportunities that can change our lives for the better. It ALSO has horrible, addictive things that eat up most of our daily lives, infiltrate our minds, and consitently distract us from the things that really matter; like our families that we don’t talk to more than we need to, our friends who can be used for more than an ear to absorb the latest gossip, and most of all? The quiet moments.
Quiet moments are when organic, original thoughts occur. When you can hear God the loudest (or budha, Ala, the earth, Marilyn Monroe, whom/whatever you choose to worship). When that song that’s stuck in your head finally decides to shut up, when your homework assignements finally slip away, and all thats left is your quiet brain.
When was the last time that happened? Has that ever happened to you? I tried to shut up the voice in my head the other day. To stop narrating everything I did, to stop thinking for a few minutes….. It was really hard and I still haven’t succeeded. Hahah
What does that say about me? About how society has conditioned me? About how technology has rendered me thoughtless? Are the people I watch on TV and online thinking for me….? Because that seems to be most of what I think about…. hmm…..
But yeah. It’s hard to get to know people, because we have such a strong front prepared now. It’s cookie cutter, unoriginal, and easily accessable. I’m guilty of this, too, aren’t we all?? Put on some makeup so you look different, post some pictures from the right angles, find some witty quotes you didn’t write, maybe from a song or your favorite philosopher (oh wait, who has those anymore? HA), and post it on your profile of choice. Make it public! Add lots of people you kind of sort of recognize. Communicate with all the witty words Seventeen Magazine taught you - “there’s a bucket of popcorn with your name on it right next to me! ;-)”
Okay couple things wrong here. 1) did you really buy a personalized bucket of popcorn, or even say that you did, just to lure some random, not-quite-trustworthy dude to your house? 2) Since when is it all about pleasing the guy? Don’t you deserve to be made happy for once? Planning spontaneous happiness… is an oxymoron. LOL 3) Please, please, please don’t ask guys out. Like it just doesn’t work. Actually, nvm, do what you want. But I will never. Hahaha
ANYWAY: yeah “getting to know someone” on the internet is also an oxymoron. “They say you look at her facebook to see what she looks like, but you look at her twitter to see how she thinks.”
Yeah, I know that’s supposed to be some huge compliment to twitter or something, but here’s a thought:
HOW ABOUT YOU LOOK AT HER FACE TO SEE WHAT SHE LOOKS LIKE, AND YOU ACTUALLY TALK TO HER TO SEE HOW SHE THINKS. DUUUUUDE COME ON.
The purpose of online interaction in the aforementioned ways is… not decent. Not profound. Nooootttt flattering, when we girls step down from our clouds and look at it for what is it. Come on, now: love is when a guy knows what you look like, knows how you think, knows your views on life, knows what makes you sad, knows what offends you, knows what makes you happy, knows your past, knows your family, knows all or most of your bad, bad flaws that you’ve spent your whole life trying to hide…. and he loves you anyway. HE LOVES YOU. And you love him! THAT IS LOVE. We all know how people act toward each other and what they do when they are truly in love. It’s completely different interaction than the kind you would have with your family members, your friends, or your boss. LOL.
So, with aaaalll that being said; if a guy doesn’t know any of that, and all he knows is what you look like, maybe a few obscure views on recreational activities… *ahem*… and knows you’re like this “cool, down chick” because he stalked you on facebook (YES IT IS STALKING. HE’S FOLLOWING YOUR LIFE AND YOU DON’T KNOW IT), yet he is doing all the things that people do for someone they are truly in love with…. his actions don’t match his intentions, clearly. Well something is up.
RUN GIRL RUN!!!!!
Yeah put on some makeup, make this mysterious, controlled impression of yourself, and lure random dudes in. Hate to break it to ya, but you’re not going to find love online. Yeah, people meet on facebook and they get married! It’s a freak accident, it’s not normal. Oh, you met your bf on facebook? Ok I’m sure you would’ve met him somewhere else, he would’ve come into your life some other way. Not tryina make waves, not trying to be rude….
It’s really not just the internet, it’s life in general these days.
I have done all these things that I now bash. It’s fun, I know! It’s entertaining! It’s distracting from the world. It makes it easier to forget life isn’t a movie. LOL. But for real;
No one is going to fall in love with you until they discover you’re a flawed human being.
BECAUSE EVERYONE KNOWS DEEP INSIDE THEY ARE A FLAWED HUMAN BEING.
They want to confirm they’re not the only one!!!!
The sooner you stop thinking everyone has to think you’re perfect, or that nobody thinks you’re good enough, or that the only way you can find happiness is by seeking it out in ways other people, who are NOT YOU, tell you to….
the sooner you will be happy :)
xoxo - Lisa (:
