What's On Your Mind??

Such asks the empty box on Facebook. The Status Box. You’ve all seen it at some time. Even those who snub FB or visit only occasionally cannot help but recognize that question. It beckons me to type something … to comment creatively about some topic that would be of note to close friends and casual acquaintances alike. I feel the urge to present some clever prose to appear interesting, thus winning new friends and influencing others.

That question taunts me, demanding a response until in frustration I click away from FB.  

You see, I have lots on my mind. Observations. Questions. Concerns. Hopes. Dreams. Disappointments. Intentions and Goals. Creative thoughts. Dark thoughts. Things I’d like to do. Things I want to do but can’t do for one reason or another. Food. Drink. Activities. Plans. Books to read. Knitting projects to begin … some to finish once and for all. Plays I want to do and see. People I want to spend time with. Places I want to go. The shoes I saw on-line or the outfit that struck my fancy. The conversation with my son this morning … the worries of my daughter. The call from a friend. The words from my parents. Things I want and can't have. Things I have and don't want. Things I don't want to do. The grocery list ... meal planning. Last night’s episode of Burn Notice ….. the list goes on and on.

There is so much on my mind at times that I feel as though I am a whirling dervish of thoughts. Many I grasp from the spinning tornado and hide before anyone can sneak a peak. They are precious and mine. Not to be shared with anyone but the most worthy. Others escape from my fingers – or lips – and can never return to the safety of their origins. But few are worthy of notice or evaluation from the great masses of eyes that will review it, analyze it and judge it in the light of a Status Update on Facebook.

My thoughts might be delicate … might dissolve with an unkind comment. My thoughts might be quirky and misunderstood. My thoughts might be different from the mainstream view … causing dissent and unfriending. My thoughts might be too personal to share randomly with people who only see me as a type-written passage.

But still Facebook asks me: What’s on your mind? So, I tell … I gently tug a little piece of myself from deep inside. I tell a little of the safe stuff or the mainstream stuff or the stuff that might create a dialogue amongst those individuals whose ideas I honor and appreciate. I type an update that might connect me to someone out there in the vastness of FB. But, most of the stuff stays locked up.

How dare Facebook ask me such a personal question anyway? It’s none of their beeswax.

So, what’s on YOUR Mind?

                                                                                                                              -- Jenni