Change is Loss: How the internet liberates and enslaves… and why I started a blog.

Change is loss.

When something changes, some old thing is lost and replaced by something new, and then accompanied with that loss is sadness, pain, happiness, or simply nothing. It's like the last day of school: you're an hour away from being free for summer, and yet this will be the last time you sit in a class with those people, this teacher, that classroom. Bam. Smack dab in the middle of gaining the freedom of summer, you are losing everything else.

Which brings me to the internet.

I hate the internet.

It's changing us.

For better or for worse, I now live a significant portion of my life in front of a computer screen. Born in the year 1987, I am part of the last generation to remember what life was like without computers. It seemed to move slower. Riding my bike, playing outside, water-gun fights, swimming, Legos, taking apart lawn mowers; there was a physicality to all that stuff, and a vague sense of life. Now, I live my life on the computer... people know me, not by knowing me, but looking at my Facebook Profile. Sometimes, I worry about not taking enough pictures to show and "share" how cool my life is. I read materials for class on my computer, edit videos on it, write on it, and even interact with my friends on it. My computer is my life.

Your computer is your life.

What have we lost? A lot. We should mourn it, but at the same time you can't stop the course of History. It's like standing in a strong current of water and trying to push it back with your hands. It will rush through your fingers.

So, in the name of progress, I got a blog. It's great because I can share my thoughts with the world. It's great because I can use it to promote myself and perhaps get a job. It's great because I can create my own content.

But I miss the days when I use to write letters. It was much more personal, powerful, and rewarding in my opinion. And there was something physical about it.

[sigh]