Under a Rock

For a number of years, I have intentionally guarded my heart and mind from excess exposure to the various social media platforms. There is a lot of chatter out there. A lot of it is not worth my time or energy. For the most part, I have no idea who the popular You Tubers and so called influencers are. Truthfully, much of the common social media ‘vernacular’ totally missed me. I had to look up the meaning of influencers when I first heard the term used in that context. Recently, by chance I stopped in to listen briefly to a few popular podcasts- especially the ones related to relationships. O my! I felt like I was buried under a rock for decades. To be honest, I wanted to go back under the rocks! There is indeed a whole new world that we sailed into and I missed the boat somewhere.

Within the year I had to educate myself about quite a bit. Some terms that were foreign to me included gaslighting, ghosting, body count, starter marriages among others. What under heavens happened to the simpler days? Now I am finally getting closer to understanding the mindset of some of my peeps in the Millennial and Gen Z cohort. Relationships have become quite complicated to navigate these days. It appears there’s a whole list of requirements, deal breakers, contractual agreements, terms and condition along with possible term limits. Please understand, I am all for set standards, knowing your value and worth. We all need to know what ‘floats our boat’ – expect to be respected, supported and the rest. Equally so, we should be willing to reciprocate. I can’t help feeling we’ve lost sight of some of the more important things in life. If what I am hearing on some of these platforms is any indication of where we are heading, I am going to encourage my children and grandchildren to invest in a career as divorce lawyers or a marriage counselors. They’ll never be out of a job. I must confess – I am underwhelmed.

I am going back under my rock. I still believe in boy meets girl, the heart goes pitter-patter, and boy pursues girl. They spend time getting to know each other- they become friends. They actually talk for hours- face to face and on the phone. They ask the right questions so they get to know each other beyond what car they drive and their net worth. They hear the embarrassing childhood stories; they even get to meet Uncle Jim and Aunt Sue too. They share dreams, desires and goals. They not just fall in love, they grow in love. They protect each other’s dignity and sanity. Call me a fool, but I’ll stay under my rock; even if all I have is a pipe dream.

I’ll still hold fast to the dream that two can indeed become one in a beautiful space. That love can last forever. In the words of Monica I believe there’s someone ‘who’ll cross the ocean for me’ and in turn‘ I’ll go and bring them the moon. I promise you – for you I will.‘

***Thank you for reading – I still believe.