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ATTENTION DEPARTING PASSENGERS, THE UNCLE JEEP TIM EXPRESS IS APPROACHING ON THE GREEN PLATFORM.

ALL ABOARD THE UNCLE JEEP TIM EXPRESS.

PLEASE KEEP YOUR HANDS AND BODY PARTS CLEAR OF THE CLOSING DOORS.

BING BONG

Please find your way to the passenger car, we will be serving a light snack in the dining car at fifteen after the hour. In the meantime we have a moving picture playing on the projection screen for your traveling enjoyment.

Tonight we will be watching The Star War, a great sci-fi epic, as I understand it.

Me, although I admitted to being a huge sci-fi nerd in the last post, am not super into Star Wars. While searching for a follow up image to the one posted above, I typed “Star Wars Trump” into Google, the results did not disappoint. I was blown away by the wealth of images I had to choose from that I had to take a step back and re-evaluate every step of my life that led to this point.

Anyone who has known me for any length of time knows that I avoid political conversations like I avoid conversations about sports, or really just anything pertaining to sports. So what has brought me to posting a political meme, referencing a movie that I’ve got no real interest in?

It’s part of the never-ending stream of pop-culture comedy we are inundated with at every waking moment via Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter, or whatever stupid social-media platform you prefer.

I’ve somehow been taken under by the great waves of the social media maelstrom that is engulfing our culture.

If you aren’t too busy posting absurd memes, or poking fun at the political landscape, you take to the Facebook comment threads to vehemently defend your point of view against a million people who hate you and could not care one iota of a shit what viewpoint you have. Funny video of a man dancing, well you best not click the comments section, just enjoy a funny video and get on with your day.

I’ve got such a limited amount of free time, and it feels like there is just too much content to even begin to dip my toes in and enjoy the water. People telling me I have to watch this movie, or that show. Did I read about what our President did today? This funny video is now a hit meme, but you have to do some research to even understand the joke that everyone is in on. I find myself just treading water, not absorbing anything, just becoming more and more aware of how much I’m missing out on.

Then I sit back and ask myself, what am I really missing out on? If I can’t enjoy it, it’s not going to enhance my life in any way. I really believe the constant access to content and information has dulled and numbed us. Over-stimulation leads to less absorption of information, less retention. We are awash in information like mindless phytoplankton in a great body of water. Okay, I’ll stop making aquatic analogies now.

(Yes, that SEALS the deal)

I don’t know the solution, but hopefully an awareness of the situation with help on the path to recovery. (Yes, I realize the irony of blogging about this and it is not lost on me) ((I really don’t give a shit about the definition of irony anymore)).

I want to say the key is to live with purpose and be more mindful of how I spend my time, but I know myself better than that, and I’m not writing a BuzzFeed listcicle on mindfulness. I’m trying to be real here, I honestly feel there is something wrong with the way most of us live our lives and how we interact with the world through our use of the internet. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m probably the number one culprit.

It seems like a non-problem, and I’m sure my privilege is showing so hard, but I’m not having that conversation. I may not have a viewpoint on the most pressing sociological issues, I may not know what sports-team is winning the most touchdowns or slam dunks. I may not have any idea what throne they are referring to or how a throne can be a game. I may not be sure if Harry ever smokes pot or if that’s just his last name. I may never know who the Lord of the Rings actually is, or the Lord of the Dance for that matter. I’m trying to protect my fragile sanity, and potentially make a net positive impact on the world in my own way. If it doesn’t fit into your view of how someone should exist maybe re-evaluate yourself instead of those with differing views than you.