Relax. Enjoy yourself. Take a little time...

Some days, you've got to just chill.

That's what I did today.

I spent several hours with friends, working on needlecraft projects (sewing, embroidery, knitting), talking, laughing, and generally having a good time. Well, I had a good time once I straightened out a problem I was having with my knitting. But, anyway, it was a pleasant afternoon with friends. By the time it was over, I was more relaxed than I have been in weeks.

I didn't have to hear all the crap in the news. I didn't have to deal with anyone making demands on me. I didn't have to justify what I was doing. It was wonderful.

But, consequently, I don't have anything to complain about here, or to rant about, or to express my concern about.

So, instead of writing something long and drawn out, I'll just say that I hope you had a good day and that you got to do something you wanted to do as opposed to something you had to do. And that if you didn't get to do that, I hope you do get to do so soon.

If nothing else, relaxing a little is probably good for your health.

Oh, and don't forget. Tomorrow is Music Sunday.

An open letter to my Facebook friends...

Dear Facebook friends:

I love you all. I really do. I would not have friended you unless I like you and enjoy your company, online, in real life, or both. In fact, I've only got only a very few out of nearly 100 friends on FB whom I have not at least met in real life, and of those who I have not yet met in meatspace, at least half of you have come to me through real-life friends.

Also, I respect all of you and your right to hold and express opinions on your FB feed, even if I don't always agree with those opinions. You might not even know if I disagree with you because, in general, I don't like to argue about those things on FB. If you have posted something that has really and truly offended me, I have quietly hidden in on my feed and let it go at that. It was really difficult, in some cases, to do that during the run-up to the recent election, but I tried very hard to just let those things go. Because I do love you all.

There is one thing, however, that really bothers me about FB. And that is the posting of things - messages or photos or photos with messages - that are accompanied by the admonition that if I don't share them or re-post them, that I'm uncaring or evil or stupid or lazy.

In fact, I might agree with you and care very much about your cause or your opinion. However, I try to make it a practice not to share or like socially or politically or religiously charged messages, even if I agree with them. I have made a couple of exceptions to this in cases of messages regarding bullying. This is because I was bullied as a child and adolescent and I know how harmful it can be.

Other than that, I try not to share those "message" posts. I am probably not perfect at that, and I don't claim to be, but I am very careful even when I do share or like something not to request re-posts or shares, because I don't like being asked to do that, and I really believe in that "do unto others" thing.

In fact, I have to admit that those messages about "if you don't share, you just don't care" feel an awful lot like bullying sometimes. Even if I agree with everything else in the post.

So, please, next time you post something, even something you feel very strongly about, think very hard before you attach a message that essentially attempts to bully others into sharing your message.

Please. And thank you.

Love you (and I really do, you know),

Your Facebook friend