Are you Following your Passion?

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m back today after a week of work and unfortunately, I didn’t get a lot of writing done. I went back into the editing cave to do some work after getting some feedback from a beta reader. So, I’m making some more changes to my story. Cross your fingers for me.

But enough about that. Today, I’d like to talk about doing something that feeds your soul. As my boys grow and develop, I’m always trying to tell them to follow your passion, find something that makes you feel alive and do it. It’s hard for our kids to find this right now because it is the age of computers, social media, and video games. None of these things help kids find their calling, unless they’re doing a google search, but that even leaves them wanting more.

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Since video games and social media are interested in engagement, they do anything they can to entice our young people to stay engaged. This leaves little time for pursuing other interests. That’s the way social media gurus and game manufacturers want it. Did you know that Facebook is starting to take over virtual reality? For more information about this click here: https://lisaorchard.wordpress.com/2020/11/14/dont-look-now-but-social-media-is-taking-control-of-virtual-reality/

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This means kids are spending less time finding something that feeds their souls. This trend is dangerous. I feel that this might be one of the reasons teen suicide and depression are on the rise. Social media cannot replace the true connection of finding your life purpose. It takes a long time to find out what your life purpose is, you have to go through many things to grow and change before you truly connect with what sets your soul on fire.

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The pandemic makes it harder, too. Because we’ve shut everything down, my youngest isn’t playing tennis and he’s lost interest in school. His grades are still good, but he’s not as interested as he used to be. The only thing he can do at this time is play video games and shoot baskets. These are challenging times to say the least.

We need to get our young people creating things. Starting from scratch and making something. Be it a story, or pottery, or even creating a video game. That’s how we learn when we build something from scratch. That’s how kids find their passions.  

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It doesn’t have to be a way to make money. Their passion will sustain them when they get bored with their job or during times of stress. It will help them build their resilience, so when life knocks them down, they’ll be able to pick themselves back up.

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So, what’s your passion and how did you find it? Leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!

Are We on the Road to Social Isolation?

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving and had a wonderful food coma that day. It was different this year with the pandemic. We stayed home and had a turkey with our immediate family. It was nice, but I definitely missed my extended family, that’s for sure.

Because we had a stay at home holiday this year. I was able to get some writing done. I’m waiting for my Beta reader to get back to me on my story and while I wait, I’ve been working on another one. I really like this new one and I’m hoping I can do it justice.

But enough about that. Today, I’d like to talk about the effect the pandemic has had on our society. We work from home. Our kids learn from home. We sit in front of our computers in our homes and do our thing. This is very isolating. I need to interact with people. It lifts my mood to just be on a WebEx meeting with my colleagues. I worry how this kind of isolation is going to affect my kids. The thing is they need their friends and the only way they can interact with them right now as we all hunker down and ride out this pandemic is through their video games.

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Sure, they’ve invited friends over, but these visits are few and far between because it’s safer to stay at home right now. So, video games have become their social gathering avenue. So, I’ve been letting them play them more than normal. They need that social interaction and video games have been linked to helping combat depression. So, what’s a Mom to do?

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I worry that this will be more than a band-aid, though, and it will become a way of interaction for the future. I worry that the next generation will not have strong relationships because their only interaction will be video games and social media. This pandemic is setting a dangerous precedent. We are getting more and more dependent on our computers. What with social media moguls gathering data about what we find interesting so they can plant it in our newsfeeds, and video games becoming interactive. It’s going to change the way we function in society.

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I hope I’m wrong. I hope that the powers that be will make sure our communities don’t change, but that would mean our purpose would have to change, wouldn’t it? The all mighty dollar can’t be the only goal here. It’s going to have to be something bigger than ourselves and our pocketbooks.

So, what can we do until that happens? We can get our kids to take breaks from their computers and watch movies together, play board games, or cards. We can get them moving by taking family hikes and getting out into nature. Anything that would require face to face interaction. That’s how we combat this social isolation. How about you? Do you have any ideas? I’d love to read them, leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!

Check on Your Loved Ones

 

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’ve been busy with work this week and with my writing. I’ve reached 30,000 words in my latest WIP and I must tell you, I’ve been coming up with some new ideas while I’m writing. I can’t write fast enough. LOL.

It’s a good thing, but it creates a little anxiety because I feel like I’m not writing fast enough. But enough about that. Today, I’d like to talk about keeping in touch with your single friends during this pandemic. It’s important to check up on them. They depend on their social lives to connect with people and with this isolation they could go days, weeks, or months without seeing someone other than people at the grocery store.

 

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Check up on your elderly relatives and neighbors, too. Especially the ones who are stuck in a nursing home. We can’t go visit them right now, but we can send cards. We can make phone calls. It’s important to reach out to our loved ones. We need the connection right now and so do they.

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Not only do we need to check up on our single friends, elderly neighbors, and relatives, but we need to check up on our kids. That’s right, the ones that live under our roofs with us. I’ve noticed that my youngest has grown a little reclusive because he hasn’t been able to see any of his classmates. We’re starting online schooling today and they’re using google meets to have a virtual classroom. I hope that means they’ll be able to interact with their classmates. Kids are attached to their computers for everything now, school, social contact, and gaming. They are dependent on their machines.

 

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We can’t take them to the trampoline park or to the community pool, they’re closed because of this virus. So, the only thing we can do is forced family fun and that always goes over like a lead balloon.  Especially when it’s mom’s idea. 😉

But we do it because they need to get a break and get away from the house. They need more physical activity, so we go on family walks and hikes through the woods. Forest bathing is good for you, you know!  They do play basketball or football with the neighbor kids when they’re around. I’ve also made it a rule that they have to get outside for an hour a day when the weather cooperates, and they do a pretty good job of following this rule. They still listen to their mom, right now, anyway.

 

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So, check on your friends, relatives, and kids. Make sure the isolation isn’t getting to them and try to get out of the house. It’s so good to get away, even if it’s only for a few days.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my post. What are you doing to keep in touch with your loved ones? Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!