As I may have touched on in my last post, there’s been a slight shift in the political landscape. It’s something that’s led to some other, more personal changes too.
No, I’m not talking about underwear or gender reassignment. That would be far too drastic. I’m talking about social media.
I’m a man who spends a decent number of hours on his laptop. Some of that is writing (which you can check out a few samples of below and some of that is browsing YouTube, Facebook, and, until yesterday, Twitter.
All Change
I know it’s changed its name, but that’s part of the reason I’ve made the decision to leave it behind. The current owner, his political affiliations, and the oppressive atmosphere and uncritical following he is, if not encouraging, then certainly allowing to exist is, to my taste, unpleasant. I know, boohoo, right? Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Well, I don’t intend to.
As of the aforementioned yesterday, I have left Twitter and joined BlueSky a similar but, in my opinion, far less hateful and unpleasant place to hang out. It reminds me of pre-Musk Twitter. A supportive place with a growing writing community, and even some LUFC peeps to follow. In the last twenty four hours I’ve written two poems and one VSS or Very Short Story—essentially a story contained in one tweet (No, not tweet. Skeet? BSkeet?). I felt inspired and supported, rather than smothered and depressed. A real personal sea change.
Positive Thinking
And that’s why I felt this small, personal change which will mean little to most people was worth a blog post. We need, as people, need to connect. We need to be inspired, encouraged. We need to find our tribes. We need freedom of expression without the foreknowledge of being shouted down. We need positivity.
It maybe that I’ve swapped one echo chamber for another that just happens to be more to my taste. It’s possible I’m being hypocritical. It doesn’t matter, though. I’ve found a place which seems suited to me, and I would encourage everyone to do the same.
Find somewhere you feel you belong. It doesn’t matter if it’s online or with actual real life people, and it doesn’t matter what bonds you share with the people you find. As long as it’s healthy. As long as it’s supportive. As long as it helps you get through the day with a spring in your step (metaphorically speaking on my part) and a smile on your face.
Life is simply too short to dwell in negativity. Get out there and find your blue skies.
Until next time.
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Hey, there! If you enjoyed reading any of the above, why not take a look at some of my published work? Below you’ll find links to a number of short stories I’m lucky enough to have included in anthologies. I’d love to know what you think.
New Tales Of Old
Death Ship
Pestilence: Drabbles 1
Reaperman: Drabbles 3
The Musketeers Vs Cthulhu
Eldritch Investigations
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