SO.
I have a now gained google+ account, and a blogger blog blog thing a ding. AND just recently I started a twitter account.
WHY?
Good question. I'll get back to you on that one.
No, actually, I do have answers to that question. Answer #1:
BECAUSE I WANT TO. Gosh.
Answer #2 (this may take a while, so grab a chair and maybe a nice hot/cold beverage of your choice):
About twitter:
I realized that every so often (sometimes as often as multiple times a day) I actually do want to post snippets of what I'm thinking about slash what is going on in my life at a given moment. (Yes, I really did just write out the word "slash" instead of typing the symbol "/". Don't ask me why.)
So you may be wondering, since I am a well established inhabitant of the facebook realm, why not just post more there? Well, I'm not sure exactly why not. I have some theories, which I won't recount in detail, but essentially I felt like starting out in a forum where I can start out fresh and have more control over who has access to my posts (or perhaps just less (false?) guilt about "un-friending" someone) was a nice idea. (And yes, I'm aware that facebook has many controls about who sees what but that's too complex and annoying, and with almost 600 contacts, I don't exactly feel like sorting all of them into lists and making custom access levels for each of those.) Another part of the "why not facebook" question I think has to do with my blog title part 2: facebook has become a collection of information that I take in and receive, rather than a place where I express myself. It's like there's too much stuff there and all I can do is sit there, read it, and look at it, and then any desire I might have had to post something on it just kind of dies away. I feel like it will be easier to start to be more expressive if I have somewhere new to start, rather than to try retraining the mental and activity habits I have already with facebook. Also, facebook is extremely distracting, so I've made some significant steps to make it so that I can stay connected but not actually have to visit the site and consequently spend an hour of time that belonged to something more important.
And as for twitter, well, one day recently I just realized it was time for me to move up in the internet world, per blog title part 1, and get a twitter account.
About google+ and blogger:
Let's start with blogger.
A few weeks ago, probably more like a month and a half or more, I revisited my oollld blogging site on xanga. I posted, and it felt really good. Having been spending a significant amount of time this summer by myself, and also having started reading quite a number of books that are quite thought-provoking, I have a lot on my mind a lot of the time that I'd like to talk about. But I don't have much of an opportunity to talk about these things with people, mainly because I haven't been able to spend a significant amount of time with much of anyone.
I also feel like it would be healthier for me to be able to have an outlet for my many thoughts and some of the events that are going on and how I'm processing those.
So Xanga... well, it's kind of outdated, and not very much in the mainstream as far as blogging is concerned. Blogger is more along the lines of your standard blog site (of course owned by google) but all the same, more people will be familiar with it and more inclined to visit a blog on a site with which they are familiar or have an account and so on. Or at least that's my rationale.
Which brings us to google+. So I just got another invitation to join, and on my way to creating a blog here, google presented me with the option of creating a full google+ profile versus creating a limited blogger profile. That's almost verbatim what the dialogue window said.
So I was like, what the heck, I'll get a google+ profile.
So now I have one.
And before I go, I'd like to share with you some thoughts and a memory.
The pairing of the words expressive/receptive actually comes from learning sign language. Expressive is when you make the signs to communicate, and receptive is when you're watching someone else signing, trying to understand it. I think I've spent enough time just watching and taking in whatever is out there, whatever happens to be on my "news" feed, whatever happens to catch my eye. I realized a while ago that clutter isn't something you just have in your room or house. It's also in your life - all these unnecessary, un-helpful, and just in the way. Extra information, extra people, extra things taking up time. They may be interesting, they may be nice, but in the long run, and even in the short run, aren't really worth having all around everywhere, cluttering up your mind and focus and keeping you from the most important things.
I think it's time for me to cut out as much of the chatter and clutter as I can, learn to focus on the things that are most important. It's hard. I've found out how difficult it is for me to focus on something that tasks my brain and makes me think hard. It can be painful sometimes. But it's what is necessary for success and growth.
Also, I think it's time for me to express more. I've been reading, thinking, experiencing life, and I need to be able to share that, instead of just sitting in my little bubble, castle, or whatever you want to call it. So here is an attempt at that. Fortunately for you, all of my expressions won't be this long. Some of them may actually be interesting. But all of them will have something to do with my thoughts, life, feelings, or something else I want to express.
I used to go hiking with my grandpa. Sometimes it was just him and me, sometimes my cousin or an uncle would be with us. One of my grandpa's favorite things to say when hiking would usually come out after we had hiked a significant height up whatever peak we were on. We'd turn a corner with a good view, and grandpa would stop, look at the view, and declare: "Well, we're getting up in the world!"
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