Navigating the thoroughfare in Social Media

 Talk about patting my head and rubbing my tummy. It is easier for me to do that than to navigate the thoroughfares in the social media world. When you look at the social media phenomenon, do you feel like you have your head stuck in a wasp’s nest? There is an incredible amount of experts, blogs, and advice out there, on how to utilize social media to increase ones business. Building a fan base and trending have become important aspects of marketing. Why? I’ve found that for me social media is one of those fads that seem to be running out of steam, finally! Thank God! No sour grapes here!

Social Media Causeway

Here's what happened to me. After successfully running my business long before the social media craze, I was advised that I needed to have a Facebook page to connect with my clients, so I did. This threw me into Linkedin, I am not really sure how I got into Linkedin. It took me a while to get somewhat of a handle on what Linkedin is all about. I'm still not sure. Then my daughter told me that Pinterest is great for finding inspiring images and connection. Sounds good, but what do I do with the things I pinned? Twitter, now that is a bit of a joke, I had a twitter account for quite a while before I knew how to use it. Get a YouTube channel I was told. Ha! I messed up YouTube so much. I ended up with three YouTube channels and I'm not sure how that happened either. I think I might still have them. I recorded several videos deleting them because they were not perfect before my daughter, the one who told me about Pinterest, told me that I had a video editing programme on my computer. Go figure! The YouTube channels threw me into Google+. What the hell is Google+, anyway?

  

So, I'm on Google+. Google+ snuck up on me. Before I knew it I was registered. I am just on Klout, not sure what that is either. I don’t even go to that one. I have a blog on Blogspot now called Blogger. I wasn't aware of the name change until my daughter brought it to my attention after I tried to logging in, to no avail. Through my daughter's genius I got back on and cleaned up my Blogger page. I was told that I should get a Wordpress blogging page. It was so complicated that I added a few more silver strands to my already graying hair trying to figure out that one. I'm sure I am a bunch more social media sites, I just can't remember which. Oh and I am on Hootsuite and dot Me.

Well, back to Facebook. So, I had a Facebook page for my book, and one for affirmations, plus my facebook home page, Then Facebook added a new page which was a duplicate page, still don’t understand the duplication. I do find it easier to browse the original page. Another 'expert' came along and told me that I needed to amalgamate my Facebook pages. So, I did. This put an abrupt halt to the slow rise in my 'likes'. With all these social media platforms out there, it’s a wonder I have time to do what I'm really good at.

Does social media work? Is it effective? My answer at this point is “I’ll get back to you in say, fifty years”. Unless you have brought your business to a place where you are making money to hire little Tyler down the street to keep your social media motor running smoothly, don't depend on it! It is a waste of time and your twenty dollars. I think the experts need to come up with real social media successes of people who have spent real amounts of time on these platforms. Celebrities can afford the time to tweet and browse. Successful people do not have the time to crawl through the Ethernet. I think it's time we unplug and redefine the uses of social media and spare the rest of my pepper hair from turning to salt. Well that is my rant for the day. I now have a new social media person who seems to be on the ball. I will keep you up to date on my progress.

Sonia Nadina Haynes is an Emotional Healing Practitioner and author. She lives in British Columbia.

Are You Ready For Love?

Conversations with friends and clients about attracting intimate love that makes itself easy for us to fit into, love that is full, cosy and so delicious that it is easy to slide down and wrap around ourselves has been heating up lately. One friend is adamant that I will and must have a love relationship in my life, at the same time she spends her time searching out in the world of men for THE ONE. Another found the possibility of love and allowed the moment to pass while saying that there are no potential relationships out there. I have clients who have met THE ONE but are waiting for the individual to become ready and available for them. They are asking, “Why is he taking so long?”

Languishing in the waiting room of love, most of us came from childhood experiences of loneliness and abandonment. For females attracted to men, when father abandoned the family, whichever for that takes- alcoholism, over work, anger and violence, each child had to deal with the pain caused by the hole created in the moment of loss. When father dies this compounds the abandonment story. Although it may not seem that way, most men are traditional in their outlook. They try to be modern and with it but they still want to be the protector and support for the one they love. When they meet a woman who has abandonment issues, she unconsciously uses her fears to hold the man in place, taking over his role of support and then gets angry when he allows her to lead. It is not that he is weak; he just wants to please. For women going into relationships where the man starts out strong, leave him to the job of being the support system to your life while you nurture and wrap him softly in warmth so that he will feel safe being in your arms. It is a challenge to take that step because it means both sides have to surrender control to become truly happy.  India Arie sings a powerful song about the longing and the pain that that union brings. 

 

Do you need love? Do you have a relationship you want to build on? 

Follow your heart. Listen to the words in the song. “I am ready for love, Why are you hiding from me, I’ll quickly give up my freedom, To be held in your captivity.” Are you ready to truly surrender your fear of abandonment, your fear of betrayal to have the love that encompasses all… that will release us from loneliness? 

The future of our planet, the resolution to wars, climate change and violence depend on us humbly, surrendering all our fears at the feet of love. The answer to my friends who insist that I should be seeking love is that I am aware that there is someone out there and I will not compromise because I know what I want. I can wait until my last breath to surrender to THE ONE and will not regret the time we were apart because when I am in his embrace, it means that I have completely made myself “ready for love”. 

Sonia Nadina Haynes - www.soniahaynes.com

To TV Or Not To TV

 While I was dreaming about a large, black obsidian like object landing on the planet, on top of me, my family and friends, a comet was actually passing by earth. I was sharing my dream with my friend when she mentioned the comet. I did not know about the phenomenon. It occurred to me that there is a lot going on around me that I don't know about. There are many people who seem to be on the pulse of what is going on, who can Schpeel off the events of each day. Sometimes I think that I may be missing out because I am not on the pulse of life's events. But then with all there is to know, how does one keep up? Would I be sleeping away when the big one hits? Even in my family dynamics I have found that most events pass me by. For a long time I lived without television. Too busy to pay attention to TV shows or even the news, I removed myself from the world, until my daughter called me on that fateful morning.

I was living in Ontario in a small out of the way town, on a beautiful piece of land that was overrun with deer, squirrels, foxes, wild birds and fish in several small ponds that meandered through the property, connected by tributaries running under handmade bridges dotted like patches on the long strip of land. Across the road and down the hill, was a lake that would freeze in the winter revealing the wonder of water in solid form and the sparkle of the water on a summer's evening. I was busy writing and the telephone rang. I impatiently answered it. My daughter was at the end of the phone asking me how I felt about what was happening in New York.

I snapped at her, " What are you talking about?"

She said, "Turn on the TV!"

"Why should I turn on the TV?” I asked.

"Turn-on-the-T-V!" she insisted.

I turned on the TV the moment when a second plane was driven into the second tower of the Twin Tower at The World Trade Centre. The rest of my day was spent by the television. Everything was forgotten. I was on the phone calling family and friends who lived in New York. Since then I kept cable TV just in case there is something I might miss. Ironically, I still miss things like the comet passing by us. I am not one of those who claim that I don't watch television, because sometime in the future of my career, I will be dependent on a television audience for my livelihood.

Those of us in the media, writers, musicians, sports people to name a few, are reliant on the wide audience that television brings. We moved to the Internet as if watching shows on the Internet is an upgrade from the "sewer" of television. I am fascinated to see where we are going in the future of media. Will the Internet take the place of television or will television transform to fit the demands of the public. Maybe television is put aside for now because we have to pretend to be polite while the internet afford us the freedom to be as nasty to each other as possible. We have become impatient with ourselves, which we project on each other. The TV shows are old, carrying the same as. We are bored with the formulas. The Harry Potteresk coming of age stories. Vampire for teenagers from books that utilize formulas that publishers have been trying to maintain. The news repeated through the day. Maybe that's good because we won't miss a news headline. 

How do I fit into this? I am choosing to step off the same old, same old. I follow the news, watch television shows that interest me and hope that the good I am giving by supporting entertainers on the TV will follow me when I make my way into the media.