Digital Bounce

What an intetesting time we live in - the age of digital.
I remember a time before mobile phones and when the internet was something to literally kill time in my lunch break as I would be lucky if I could load 3 pages before the bell called me back to class.
I never studied IT in highschool because I didn't really see the value and I was happy with my level of proficiency. This was at a point when we still submitted hand written essays and the peak of IT competency was knowing how not to catch the attention of the animated paper clip (in my 14 year old opinion).

How much has changed! My smartphone has recently become my main portal to the world, and I've had the wonderful opportunity to really engage with and understand our digital age thanks to the Google Squared course which I will complete around early May 2015.

I've began to develop a sense of my digital self - and also gained confidence to share thoughts, events and great ideas (not my own) through platforms like facebook, twitter and this blog.

For a long time I was a quiet observer, inspired and excited by what I saw others doing, achieving and sharing. However I didn't have the confidence to put myself out there. What could I offer? Why would people, even people I knew well, be interested in what I had to say?

I hadn't posted to Facebook in a long time, (apart from random K Pop which is of little interest to most in my social sphere. I found posting images especially labourious, such a hassle to download from my camera, then export, then reupload. Recently, I discovered I could upload pictures to facebook straight from iPhoto. Had it really been that long since I last posted an image from my Mac?

And the response was beautiful. It was so long since I had seen that many comments. It was personal, people cared and shared their thoughts and good wishes. The event I posted was a friends wedding.

Had I really been unengaged for so long? There are so many events from the last few years that I've not really shared and just moved on from. Just downloaded to my mac and left to the past.

I've found that social networks and media has moved on without me in the years I've mentally been offline, wondering what all the fuss is about. I've neglected the meaning and joy that other people, friends and family, find in our shared experiences.

So one of my New Years Resolutions is to be more social, online and offline.

Here's a lovely thought to start your day.

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared".
Gautama Siddharta, founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.)