Thank you all for this session it does clarify some nuances. I hope the Elvis and Penelope had smooth transitions, in that respect they were very lucky to experience such a time around knowledgeable folk and that would have worked in their favour.
My social media experience has been different. I was never really interested in it in the beginning, preferring to read books and forums. The first account I set up, where I sent only one friends request, was to take a look at a friends wedding photo's at her suggestion. Then my ex wanted an account when we moved interstate so that she could keep in touch with her family so I set up an account for her, still not interested in one for myself. It was a couple of years after that when I read about sharing stuff on social media here to help out. I couldn't recover my old account because I couldn't remember what my email address had been when I set up the initial account so I set up another one.
It was helpful for me to use to face some fears and discomforts by sending friends requests and posting stuff. Learning to speak up. Facing fear of rejection and abandonment. I still don't always find doing that very comfortable in most instances, but I'm less concerned about the reactions of others to it now.
I still use social media like a forum in the respect that I join groups that are about subjects of interest. Some of those groups I've lost interest in, but keep them because sometimes a subject comes up where I can share a SOTT article or recommend an RPP book. After the last session I found two groups about Electric Universe Geology and also keep an eye on them, as I do the other groups, for things that might be useful here.
Yes, I've received a few messages too and that's part of the reason I've kept posting. I still feel that I do get too identified with the fight though and can feel angry and bitter at times, a defence against hurt/pain I think. The awareness of that helps and the exercise of moderating responses while in the heat of it is helpful.
While I don't think it's fruitful to try to change the minds of others, I do think that there are those for whom these latest circumstances might serve as the opener, or those who see it and can't speak out for whatever reason. They are definitively in the minority though. There is an old school friend who started speaking out, but got totally and publicly shut down by his family on social media. On the few occasions where I have responded to comments that support mainstream narrative, it's not so much to change the mind of the commenter, but with the awareness that there are possibly others reading who cannot speak up because of family or work or who are picking up on discrepancies between their experiences and the official narrative.
Interesting that you say the above, and the comment about most of us making this shift. While I'm certainly aware of the descent into madness, I'm still find it difficult to just walk away. I suppose it has a lot to do with my temperament and the years of 'fighting the power' that makes me respond in this way. There's something in me that seems to respond as if this is what I've been training for all these years. On FB in particular, I've been posting a lot of stuff relating to lockdowns and the virus that seems to have attracted a lot of attention (2,500 new 'friends' in the last couple of months). That said, it's a good idea to not be too identified with being engaged in the 'fight'. At the end of the day, there's no changing this world or the path on which a lot of its inhabitants are set, and those who are not on that path probably have enough awareness at this point to see them through.
My social media experience has been different. I was never really interested in it in the beginning, preferring to read books and forums. The first account I set up, where I sent only one friends request, was to take a look at a friends wedding photo's at her suggestion. Then my ex wanted an account when we moved interstate so that she could keep in touch with her family so I set up an account for her, still not interested in one for myself. It was a couple of years after that when I read about sharing stuff on social media here to help out. I couldn't recover my old account because I couldn't remember what my email address had been when I set up the initial account so I set up another one.
It was helpful for me to use to face some fears and discomforts by sending friends requests and posting stuff. Learning to speak up. Facing fear of rejection and abandonment. I still don't always find doing that very comfortable in most instances, but I'm less concerned about the reactions of others to it now.
I still use social media like a forum in the respect that I join groups that are about subjects of interest. Some of those groups I've lost interest in, but keep them because sometimes a subject comes up where I can share a SOTT article or recommend an RPP book. After the last session I found two groups about Electric Universe Geology and also keep an eye on them, as I do the other groups, for things that might be useful here.
Last night I received a message from a friend thanking me for the "covid is nonsense" posts on FB. They are not to convince the brainwashed but to confort those who already know or suspect something is not quite right. So an occasional distillation of information, including through humour, may be sufficient at this point. Truth cannot reach those who refuse to see it anyway.
Yes, I've received a few messages too and that's part of the reason I've kept posting. I still feel that I do get too identified with the fight though and can feel angry and bitter at times, a defence against hurt/pain I think. The awareness of that helps and the exercise of moderating responses while in the heat of it is helpful.
While I don't think it's fruitful to try to change the minds of others, I do think that there are those for whom these latest circumstances might serve as the opener, or those who see it and can't speak out for whatever reason. They are definitively in the minority though. There is an old school friend who started speaking out, but got totally and publicly shut down by his family on social media. On the few occasions where I have responded to comments that support mainstream narrative, it's not so much to change the mind of the commenter, but with the awareness that there are possibly others reading who cannot speak up because of family or work or who are picking up on discrepancies between their experiences and the official narrative.