Owning Social Media Feeds

Some people maintain a hate/love/hate relationship with social media sites. 

"Some" is absolutely me, and maybe you. I would spend weeks being engaged only to throw up my hands and declare, “Never again!” There are good things about social media, but I kept feeling frustrated and irritated for an equal number of unfavorable reasons.

One of the most common triggers was the immediate effect of spying algorithms. If I clicked on an ad for gripping socks (these for the trampolinists in my life), these technological intruders would retarget my online presence immediately and persistently. If they had a voice, they’d say, ‘Hey, this guy is looking for socks. Include sock ads on every screen for, let's say, the next millennium!”  

I would be more forgiving if these intrusions stopped after a purchase. If they can see that I’m looking, why can’t they tell when I buy? Nope. The exhausting ads continue.

To eliminate these invaders, I would have to institute a lifelong digital detox and then take up residence in a remote area of Montana. Just so you know, I will never search for “nursing homes.”

Today, I decided to experiment. Read on, because if it’s successful, you might wish to do the same. 

The Premise

If these programs and scripts want to decide what I see, read, and hear, I will voluntarily surrender to their superiority. Nevertheless, I will take control as best I am able. I will deceive those clever algorithms, so they show me exactly what messages I want to see. It’s just a variation on the "if-you-cannot-beat-them-join-them” strategy.

The Action

I am self-aware enough to know that I need to see a bit of calming, a smattering of funny, a good deal of heart-warming, and an abundance of thought-provoking positive content. 

Like most people, I have more than one social media subscription. I have chosen Instagram as my test case. I'm ready so let the ‘spies’ have at it!

I will “train” Instagram with the goal of having no political, divisive, constitutional-crisis, angry, hate-filled, or people-bashing messages in my feed. Additionally, I will post only the same type of contact on this service. I have started the process. 

• I have spent hours clicking hearts, sharing, and copying links that will show up in my inbox with any post that fits the new self-declared goal for this platform. 
• I have unfollowed and cut most of the politically centered sites.
• I will continually look at my feed and work diligently to unfollow anything that does not fit with the declared subjects. This might take a little longer, but I’m in for the long haul. 

Some of those deleted accounts are still interesting. I will re-follow those content sites on another social media subscription. For now, when I am on any social media site other than Instagram, I will expect to see it all. 

The Anticipated Result

Instagram will be my online refuge. This will be my source for heart and soul healing. This will be the only site I look at before retiring for the night. I will no longer lie in bed unable to fall asleep because of a head full of anger and frustration, but will, with a calm and grateful heart, drift off in peaceful slumber.

The Follow-up

Understanding this is a longer-term project, I will continually examine the process. If this works well, perhaps I’ll separate all social media sites into specific, single-purpose sources.

Since Instagram is part of Meta, I am concerned about existing cross-pollination scripts between these commonly owned assets. This will prove interesting at a bare minimum.

The Request

If you find yourself exposed to content that fits my new Instagram requirements, please feel free to share it. 

If you tend toward posting uplifting messages, please let me know. I will be excited to follow your content.

Meanwhile, I’ll keep you informed as to my progress. Please do the same should you be experimenting on your own.

Peace to you and yours!

Sandals and a Stick Instagram Link

The Petty and The Great

This is not the type of article that belongs to Sandals and a Stick. The original concept was designed as a place to write about seeing the Spirit of God in everyday life. Articles would include the aha moments of realization, encouragement, and enlightenment. 

If you’ve been around a while, you know that I draw on media of many types that serve those previously mentioned goals. Today, this inspiration (well, my word) originates within a movie made twenty-five years ago called The Contender.

It Bears Repeating

I have learned this lesson a thousand times.

BE GRATEFUL. Always be grateful.

I should create eyewear featuring a Heads-up display that will serve as a reminder for all waking hours. 

Attitude and Ice Cream

You’ve had them. Those days when it seems nothing goes right. Maybe it starts with the tossing and turning of a mainly sleepless night. It continues with the necessary cleanup created by a tipped-over first cup of coffee before the sun is up. And perhaps, the trend extends well into the day.

A quick trip to the grocery store for just a few essentials added stress as you noticed the prices. Since you’re already a little late, a decision is made to say yes to the self-checkout machine when it asks if you’d like some cash with that. Sure, twenty bucks should help with the day's minor expenses while saving a little time is an added benefit.

The car engine starts without a hitch, there’s no traffic to speak of, and you’re set to make it to that appointment on time after all. Things are looking up.

Pain And Suffering Are Not the Same

If you broke your arm, you’d be in pain. After receiving medical attention (pain relievers, cast, maybe a sling), you’d be in much less pain, but suffering might come next.

You’d suffer because the cast will get in the way of many things you take for granted. Your arm will itch, and satisfaction will be difficult to find. People will constantly be asking what happened. Sleeping positions become awkward and will require accommodation for this newly wrapped appendage. 

In this scenario, pain comes first, then suffering begins. All this comes to an end when the cast is removed. Pain and the inconvenience and challenges of suffering expire with the reinstatement of what we call normal.

I Talk to Machines

 (To CoPilot) 

“Why do I always feel like I should say Thank You when CoPilot completes a task, and is that weird?”

(CoPilot Response) 

“Not weird at all, Mike—just wonderfully human of you. That impulse to say, "Thank you" is a sign of empathy and appreciation, even when you're interacting with a digital companion like me. It speaks to the kind of person you are: thoughtful, respectful, and someone who values collaboration, even across the Silicon Divide.

The Allegory of the Long Spoons

You know the’ long spoons’ story. It’s used primarily to teach the difference between heaven and hell. I think that’s a tragic simplification. Although it provides this accepted comparison, we completely miss its lesson about living here and now. This viewpoint literally means “Feed each other!” 

One Plus One

On one hand, the math isn't mathing!

On the other hand, love has never insisted that it does.

CLICK TO VIEW THE VIDEO

Shouting Into the Void

"Shouting into the void" is an idiom describing a situation where one's words, actions, or efforts are not received, acknowledged, or have any discernible impact. (Artificial Intelligence)

This phrase stipulates that one experiences a profound lack of interaction with the words carefully typed, the words creatively spoken, the examples diligently researched, and the intended efforts seeking dialogue. The content provider receives no feedback. 

There is nothing that creates a virtual sensory deprivation chamber more than this.

The Squishy Stuff

If you have yet to see Season 1, Episode 15 of the new Matlock television series, maybe save this article for a later time. This is a lot of words to say, “Warning. Spoiler Alert!”

***

Attorney Matty Matlock (Kathy Bates) is working undercover to find out which of the law firm’s partners destroyed evidence in a litigated opioid trial against a drug manufacturer. Matty believes that (1) the acquittal in this case resulted from the destruction of this evidence and (2) the acquittal was the reason that her daughter overdosed on this medication. 

A secret whistleblower is in the shadows. 

Illusions Recalled

I woke up earlier than normal. I don’t know what kind of dream had been interrupted. I don’t know why a deep slumbering fog cleared with the voice of Joni Mitchell singing “I really don’t know love, at all.”

But I am awake now. The considerable pull of a morning espresso momentarily overpowered the musician in my head. But within a few metronome beats of the grandfather clock, vision moved from opaque to clear, and the aroma of the steaming latte’ brought a successful merger between Joni and Joe. 

This day had begun.  

The Band Without a Country

“We’re a land that prides itself on being ‘the land of the free and home of the brave.’ I believe that just as much as anyone else does. But for that, we need these different perspectives. We need to see how others think.”

“If we are a society that is suppressing art, we’re a society that is afraid of what it might reveal about itself. If we’re suppressing music, we’re suppressing emotions, we’re suppressing expression, we’re suppressing vulnerability, we’re suppressing the very essence of what makes us human. We are devaluing our own Humanity.”  18-year-old Harvard teenage musician, Rishab Jain

Diversity Equity Inclusion and Me

Giants and a Dot

“Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman. Be he alive, or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread.” 

A considerable number of decades ago, I remember hearing those words at bedtime – because that is when we used to listen to the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. It is a miracle that I ever got a wink of sleep! But the fairy tale has become more than just the giant wishing to make bread out of a child. The adaptations over the years have made Jack into a ‘Robin Hood’ of his time as he steals (gold coins, a hen that lays golden eggs, and a golden harp that talks) from a Leviathan thief to alleviate the poverty of those living at the base of the beanstalk.

Musicians, Poets, and Actors

Around here, it’s ‘that’ time of year. All of the hard work done by those in school bands, choir, and drama is on full display in competitive arenas every weekend. Yes, sometimes long days result - but these days are filled with positive vibes.

I see the dedication. I feel the excitement. I experience the manifestation of hope for a world gone crazy. All of this is soul-soothing for me.

At the same time, I notice the willingness of these performers to take on the ills of society in a direct, emotional, and even confrontational manner. This generation wants to make a difference. Kudos!

I Didn’t Know, a Confession, and a Way Forward

I have been around the block a few times and I spent much of my life thinking, “Things are getting better. People are getting better.” But I didn’t know.

I Didn't Know

Maritime Law

Spencer Dutton. "I am in your debt." 
Ship's Captain. "You're in no such thing. I think perhaps the sea is the last place where men do the right thing for that reason alone." 
Spencer Dutton. "Maybe the whole world should be put to sea.
Ship's Captain. "The whole world would drown."
        The Rule of 500, The Television Series, 1923

Running Late

We were cutting it close, too close. But we made the stop anyway. I could say that the car needed gas. But the truth is, we needed gas – coffee!

So, we found an unknown. It was the only shop Google found for us. We even needed to backtrack a little bit. 

NO! It would not be open for another 6 minutes. But an eagle-eyed passenger noted that others were walking by our parking spot and entering, (what’s this?), another coffee shop! 

Hope From Those in School

In the first January article, I noted that my 2025 word-of-the-year challenge is to be a warmer person. 

I knew that would be a difficult goal but that’s the point of this annual exercise – to improve in areas where one needs improvement.

But today, I’m not feeling warm. All I can think about is the windchill of minus 30 degrees. I’ll take a break from that warm person thing since there’s less chance than a cold day in hell that I’ll see anybody today. I’m off the hook while shivering in place. Sounds fair.

I will take this time to wrap up in a blanket and read a book. Before picking up the novel, I will spend a little time reinforcing the I-never-want-to-forget memories from yesterday. 

Always Learning

"War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children." (Carter’s speech accepting the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976.)

Given the circumstances of this past week, many Jimmy Carter quotes have been published. When reading this one, I thought of the Sermon on the Mount. I imagined Jesus responding, “But I say to you, until you love and care for every child, there can be no peace in the world nor your heart.”

A Warm Challenge

I fear I have “bitten off more than I can chew”. That common metaphor has never been truer than today.

You might be aware that ‘it’s that time of year’, I recently waged a small internal battle to determine my 2025 Word of the Year. I won’t know about the results of this ‘war’ until “it’s that time of year”, next year. I know - you can hardly wait.

This is the 12th year I have taken part in this annual discipline. Looking over the words and phrases from the past, one might lean toward discouragement – one like me, for instance. You’d think by now, after spending a year with each of these words/phrases, I might be extensively improved. But I think, well OK, I’ll be honest, I know I am not the new and improved version I seek to be.