Aging

I suppose it was inevitable. Actually, I could not ignore it any longer. Not too long ago I finally acknowledged that my hair is thinning on top. This was not easy. But the fact is to keep denying it was silly. There is a spot on my head where hair used to be. Not there is scalp. Maybe my hair went on a holiday. Maybe it is out with friends. Maybe it will return. Maybe. Closer to the truth is has moved on - or should I say "off?" - and is not any more likely to return than a fan in the stands is apt to throw a foul ball he just caught back onto the field. Another reality I am in the process of accepting is the likelihood that at some point more of my hair will join the ones that have already left. They won't return either.

Will I end up becoming completely bald? I sure hope not. But it is possible. After all, is not this what happens to most men well into their seventh decade? Sadly, the answer is "yes." Now it is my turn and I am not pleased. As much as anything, aging represents change. Unfeeling, nothing-personal, objective, non-negotiable change. Some change, of course, we have little, if any, choice but to accept. But not that is not the case with other changes. Communication is one example. More to the point: social media. It represents a change in how mankind communicates. Use of it continues to grow in popularity, thus representing a major step away from beginning times when we scratched out drawings on cave walls.

Now we are communicating via twitter, Facebook, Podcasts and other forms of social media. While none of these forms of communicate are bad, what is giving them a negative twist is the reality that some use social media to bully others, spread lies, report fake news, and spew out insults. Their actions not only do harm but often enjoy an audience of thousands and, at times, even millions. Very much like my thinning hair, I do not like this. But very much unlike my thinning hair, this form of communicating can be stopped. All of us communicators can speak out against those who communicate to hurt. Purposely setting out to deceive or inflict damage reflects poorly on everyone and makes us less than who and what we are. This kind of change needs to be reversed.