What IS All This Brouhaha Over Facebook Changes?

Sipping tea, watching Headline News yesterday morning, I hear Robin Meade mention the changes on Facebook and how everyone’s panties are in a twist.

I think, “Oh no. Not again. Not something new for me to get used to.”

So, I rush up to my computer and log onto Facebook to check it out.

Changes? Huh?

What changes?

Oh, sure. There’s a little ticker on the right sidebar that shifts every so often. (No different from the little ticker at the bottom of the television screen on most news programs.) And now there’s a handy, dandy little blue triangle located in the upper left hand corner of homepage posts. (What it’s for, I have no idea. And I don’t care, either.)

But people tweeting and twittering decrying these changes? Or, shouting out to fellow Facebook friends with evil status updates belittling Facebook powers that be?

Silly.

A little change never hurt anyone. (Except when they messed around with the formula for Coca-Cola, of course. But that’s for another post.)

Change keeps us young. Change challenges us to adapt. Change encourages problem solving.

Change is good!

All this crying about change reminded me of a pithy comment I saw on a church sign recently:

“If you are resistant to change just remember the beauty of autumn.”

Truer words were never spoken.

My Heart Going Boom Boom Boom

I absolutely adore the song “Solsbury Hill” by Peter Gabriel. As melancholy as the lyrics can be, it is always a happy, hopeful song.

“My heart going boom boom boom” – A song full of promise. Change. A shift in perspective. That’s what happening to me now. Yesterday the shift was a bit scary, a bit depressing. Today, I am filled with hope.

“Open doors would soon be shut
So I went from day to day
Tho’ my life was in a rut
“Till I thought of what I’d say
Which connection I should cut” – There have been some revelations in my life recently that have caused me to stop, reassess, adjust. Some days it felt as if a door was slamming on my foot. Other days I was struck dumb. Then there was the re-evaluating relationships. The struggle. But the tempo of the music matches my mood. While difficult and uncomfortable, it’s been freeing and cleansing. I feel so much lighter today.

“When illusion spin her net
I’m never where I want to be
And liberty she pirouette
When I think that I am free” – I don’t think I realized how stifled I was. How I am not myself when I am preoccupied with pleasing and compromising. I have a cautious appreciation for change. And the change in myself that I am feeling now feels right.

“I will show another me
Today I don’t need a replacement
I’ll tell them what the smile on my face meant
My heart going boom boom boom
“Hey” I said “You can keep my things,
they’ve come to take me home” – Home. Within myself. Feeling comfortable in my own skin. Knowing what is important to me. That is the space I find myself today.

I was surprised to discover that Sarah McLachlan and Dave Matthews have versions of this song, both artists I love. But their versions were dull in comparison to the original. They didn’t make it their own, as Simon Cowell would say.

But I wouldn’t want them to make it their own.

It is perfect just the way it is.

The Title Of My Commencement Address? Sixty-Nine.

(Taking Mary Schmich up on her commencement speech challenge given years ago, here is my speech. Can’t wait to read yours!)

Sixty-nine.

Are you giggling? Are you shifting in your seat uncomfortably? Are you looking around, wondering why some of your fellow graduates are twittering?

A private, or not-so-private joke. In the classroom, whenever I’d say “Turn to page 69” or “The answer is 69” giggles always erupted. I’d nod, or smile feebly and say, with a twinge of sarcasm, “Yes, that’s a new one on me! You got me there!”

But that didn’t matter. You still thought you were the first class to laugh. You still thought you were the first to get the joke. You still thought I had no idea what you were giggling about.

And here we are, on your graduation day.

Giggling about sixty-nine.

Why is the Year of the Four Emperors so funny? 69 AD. The year that Galba, Otho, Vitellius and finally Vespasian ruled the Roman Empire after Nero’s suicide. A time of great turmoil, anarchy and unrest.

Sixty-nine. The atomic number of Thulium. A rare metal. Used for radiation.

Psalm 69. “I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait.” How many of you felt waiting for exam grades to be posted.

Jared Allen. Jersey number 69. Defensive End for the Minnesota Vikings.

69%. Just under a passing grade at many schools.

Rotate this amazing number 180 degrees and it’s still 69.

So many ways to view a simple number. A year. A jersey number. A prayer.

My view. Your view. The person-next-to-you’s view. As individual and unique as a fingerprint.

You were all taught the same material. You all studied the same things. But you each took away from it something that is unique to you and your experiences. After learning it, you each applied it in different ways. Some created advantage with the material. Some disregarded it. And others let it get the best of them.

You will leave this institution and go on to do other things. Notice that I didn’t say “better” things. Because some of you won’t. Some of you will choose not to use the tools provided. You will rest on your laurels and wonder why the guy next to you has it so good. You will sit back and view life in a limited way.

The choice is yours. You can choose to do great things. You can choose to better yourself and your surroundings. You can choose to view things differently. You can choose to create good in your life.

It’s all in the way you look at things.

If you take away one thing from your educational experience let it be the ability to look at things in a new way. A better way. A more enlightened way.

A glyph for the zodiac sign of Cancer. A percentage. ’69 – The year of Woodstock.

Now when you hear the number 69 it will have more than one definition for you. You will be reminded to view things from a different angle. You might challenge yourself to discover more definitions for the number 69.

And you might giggle. Because you know something the next guy doesn’t.

It can be our private joke.

(Thanks to SubWow at Absense of Alternatives  for pointing me in the direction of this awesome cause and the prize for this week’s commencement address challenge! Simply link your speech in the comments section of this post and one of my darling children will randomly draw a name/speech from a hat. Good luck and thanks for playing!)

Yes! Yes! Yes!

(The above title should be read Sally-style, as in “When Harry Met Sally.” Now, on with our regularly scheduled post.)

Today’s topic, for Momalom’s Five For Ten, is Yes. And while I have a wonderful interview with Aidan  Donnelley Rowley about her first novel “Life After Yes” planned for tomorrow…it IS Tuesday. Tunes for Tuesday, that is. So I thought a music selection for today would be appropriate. Plus, I like to tease. If you come back tomorrow AND comment, you might win a copy of Aidan’s new book. Something to look forward to….

I love the earlier groups. Progressive Rock.  The ones that shaped modern rock music. The layers and intricacies. Jethro Tull and the signature flute, The Beatles with their amazing lyrics and variety of sound, Queen with its use of classical voice and instruments, Pink Floyd’s reflective lyrics.

And Yes. Intricate harmonies. Fantastic instrumentals. I had a difficult time choosing a song. I spent much too much time listening to “I’ve Seen All Good People, “Roundabout,” “And You and I,” “Leave It,” “Owner Of A Lonely Heart,” “Almost Like Love.”

I settled on “Changes.” At this point in my life I’m going to ignore the stanzas that talk about lost love. I’m done mourning what was never there. Instead, I’m focusing on the chorus.

“Change changing places
Root yourself to the ground
Capitalize on this good fortune
One word can bring you round
Changes”

My grandmother was so afraid of change. She resisted. She denied. I’ve understood those feelings at many times in my life. But when you get stuck there….you’re just that. Stuck.

I prefer to move. I prefer to grow. I prefer to experience.

I choose to embrace change.

And by embracing change, I’m saying “Yes!”

(Stay Tuned! Tomorrow I’ll be featuring an interview with Aidan Donnelley Rowley from Ivy League Insecurities on her debut novel, “Life After Yes.” A copy of her new book will be awarded to one lucky reader!)

 (This post is part of the Five For Ten project at Momalom. Please visit their site for more wonderful posts on Yes. Or click the button below to find out how YOU can participate!)

Change is Scary

My grandmother hated change. She liked things to stay the way they were. When we moved an hour away she talked about it like we had moved out of the country. When they’d tear down an old building and put up a parking garage she’d complain about how it must have been more cost effective to just tear everything down rather than preserve what was there.

I saw this house on a recent visit to the city. Skyscrapers had built themselves around this little house. I’m not sure why this house survived and all the others around it didn’t but this one is for sale. Her days may be numbered.

Now I know what my grandmother was feeling. Change is unpredictable. Change doesn’t always respect the past. Change is scary.