I have a lot of...existential angst.

People, please, say what you mean.

We all spend way too much time tip-toe-ing around things and choosing our words, so that by the time we actually put enough words together to speak, we haven't really said anything at all.

If you think you shouldn't say something because it might be hurtful or rude, then don't say it. Don't change it and twist it until it's something vague, something blurred and meaningless, or worse, something even more hurtful.

Much truth is often said in jest. I believe that. We often turn things into a joke to soften the blow of what we're saying, but that doesn't mean that it has any less of an impact or hurts any less.

So much of conversation has become so impersonal and so...lazy. Where we used to call, we text. Where we used to write letters, we email, we facebook chat. We've lost so much contact with each other; we've abandoned face-to-face conversation. A text can't convey emotion or tone or sarcasm. It can't convey love or admiration. It's a wonder that we don't completely forget the sound of one another's voices. Instead of a face, a voice, you're talking to a screenname. A profile picture. I'm not trying to be a hypocrite; I know I'm just as guilty of this as anyone else. I guess you could even say that I'm being lazy now writing this blog, that instead, I should be sharing my opinions in a more active, personal way.

I don't think that all modern communication is bad. I really don't. I love texting and email and Facebook. I just think that we've become way too reliant on these things. It's unhealthy.

People need people. We need the comfort of another's voice or touch. We need the reassurance and warmth of a person's face, of smiles and laughs. We need to be able to look one another in the eye and feel a connection, an understanding.

It's so easy to be cold and distant and lazy in our relationships and our interactions. I think we could all stand to put a little more effort into what we do, into our friends and family, our loved ones.

Maybe this Facebook/blog/text thing is just a fad. Maybe it'll blow over. But, speaking as a member of the Facebook/text message generation, I think that might be wishful thinking.

Shortfalls and little sins

You know, they make mirrors now that can show you an exact image of yourself. I guess that would be kinda cool. I mean, it's basically like looking at a video of yourself. I think it would be weird though...think about it. Pretty much our entire lives, the physical image we have of ourselves is a mirror image; it's not really what we look like. Isn't that...strange to think about? That you've spent your life looking at a version of yourself that no one else sees?

It's weird to see yourself the way other people do, but maybe it would be good for people. In our heads, we have these images of ourselves that probably aren't accurate. If we could just have a day to see ourselves in the same light as those around us, would we be surprised? Would we see exactly what we expect or exactly the opposite? If you weren't you, would you like yourself?

We tend to take for granted the people closest to us. We treat them differently and sometimes worse than we would treat people we hardly know because we just assume that they'll always be there for us and accept all of our faults. And I guess, you might argue, that that's what friends and family are supposed to do: love us for who we are and look past our flaws. But that shouldn't give us a right to neglect our loved ones or treat them badly. The people who mean the most to us should be the people that we treat the best.

Maybe the reason all the mirrors in our bathrooms and on our closet doors show us reversed images of ourselves - the reason we don't have mirrors that show us exactly what we look like - is because those mirrors are all around us. Every day, in our parents and siblings, our friends, our boyfriends and girlfriends...everyone we encounter on a daily basis. Maybe it's not that we can't see what we look like to other people; maybe we choose not to. If we can ignore the things we do and say that would make us ashamed and the behaviors in ourselves that we would never accept in others, then we can be the good, perfect people we want to be without trying very hard, at least in our minds.

And you know what? Even though it's weird and foreign and maybe even scary, I would rather see myself honestly and without any facade than just casually accept and ignore my flaws. Maybe your reflections are the same in both mirrors. Maybe you're perfect. I'm not, and I know that. And I can look myself face on, through the reflection and try to see exactly who I am. Because if, one day, I come across one of those special mirrors, I want to be able to look in it and like what I see.