A few nights ago, my four-year-old, Gloria, sweetly asked me
to play a game with her. She had gotten a hold of a balloon and was hitting it
into the air. She wanted me to help her. I didn’t really feel like it, but a
wise voice inside told me to spend time with her.
But I couldn’t really concentrate or appreciate the moment
with my cute little daughter because my mind was kind of obsessed with some
drama on the internet.
You see, I’d chosen to post a snarky meme on Facebook and
drama had ensued. Several comments were made and arguments sprang up. It was
over an issue I don’t actually care that much about, but I found myself feeling
defensive and wanting to “show it to them.” I began to care about “the issue”
not because I really cared, but because I had been told I was wrong and I
needed to prove that I was right.
Meanwhile I was missing out on something that was actually
very important to me: my family. I was emotionally detached when I should have
been emotionally engaged.
Maybe other people don’t have this problem. I tend to obsess
about some things more than others. But something tells me that I’m not the
only one who is distracted by internet drama.
Another way that internet drama steals our love is by making
us angry with people we love and respect. It’s so easy to make rude and angry
comments over the internet. We don’t have that same interpersonal fear that you
get in a face-to-face conversation that makes you hesitate from saying hurtful,
dramatic, exaggerated or angry things. But that same instinct is not present
when you’re typing.
But you DO feel the pain from comments directed to you. Your
ego gets hurt or you feel attacked. So you retaliate and soon you’re bickering
with someone you care about concerning an issue you DON’T actually care about.
And then you are creating real divisions between yourself and some of your friends
or family members who happen to be on the other side of a political divide.
It’s kind of tragic.
