When I go online these days, here’s my gut reaction to what I see:

Because this is what it feels like everyone else is doing:

I’m an opinionated person. As you all know, I don’t often hesitate to share what I’m thinking about most things, but (I don’t know if you’ve noticed) I almost never share my thoughts on politics or religion. Even in my books, any of that stuff is told from different points of view. Some of it mine, some of it not mine, because I don’t like shoving my shit down a reader’s throat.

But the things I see in the news these days is making it extremely difficult not to be political. I get an itch to respond almost every hour.

But I don’t. Why? Because if I go down that rabbit hole, I end up hurting myself. I’m online for two purposes: marketing and entertainment. I like to be informed, and I feel it’s important to add one’s voice to certain issues, but wasting energy on hating strangers for what they’ve done/believe/say isn’t the best use of my time (in my opinion).

Maybe I’m just getting old. Honestly, the urge to scream “Get off my lawn!” kinds of things is strong. I have almost zero patience for ugliness and stupidity, but I’m also pretty picky about what I want to expend energy on. Yelling at some faceless asshole on social media isn’t high on my list of priorities. Is that a sign of old age? Or maybe it’s wisdom. Maybe I’m just tired.

*sigh* Anyway, I recently read a Facebook status posted by a publisher that advised authors to keep separate social media profiles. One for personal shit, like political rants, and one for their books, that does not include our personal stuff. I agree, sort of. I also think that readers will see the personal shit anyway. Nothing is secret on the Internet, after all. So, does it matter where we put it? And some authors might say that any reader who wouldn’t pick up their books because of their personal beliefs or values isn’t a reader they want. Fair enough. Keep in mind, though, that those readers include publishers. If you don’t plan to use a publisher, then I guess this all doesn’t really matter.

It’s kind of silly that I’m saying I don’t like to get political, and then I write a blog post about not being political, which is actually kind of being political.

Anyway, I’m caving. Going to toss my two cents into the air and tell you what I think. Here’s my take on the world today: It sucks. We suck. Humans, in general, make me sad. I know we’re not all bad. Some of us are doing good things and will always do good things. What makes me sad is seeing how many of us are practically orgasmic when we get a chance to be pissed off/offended/hurt/whatever by something someone else has done. I am disgusted by the things we’re doing to each other. Makes me want to gather my kids and take them away to some isolated place where this damaged world can’t touch them.

Hate is bad. All of it. Hating anything requires a lot of energy and what’s our reward? Nothing. We receive nothing by hating, other than that wonderful feeling of something eating us from the inside out. Not really a payoff that I think is worthwhile.

Instead of ranting or calling people out because what they believe isn’t to your liking, do something different. Be different. Be better. Show these dipshits what humanity should look like by not getting down on their level. I know it’s not an easy thing to do. I realize that nothing will change if we ignore it. Nothing changes if we’re all doing the same thing either. I’m not telling anyone to ignore the clusterfuck that is the world today. I’m telling you to find a way to make a difference that doesn’t involve spewing more hate and anger. That’s all.

And read more books. Always read more books.