Ever since I became a mom, I have been a lot more emotional when I read books or watch movies that involve children. I guess it is only natural to build an attachment by understanding the relationship between parent and child. Now when a child is depicted as sick, lost, disturbed, happy, determined, or sad, I relate strongly to the child and the characters. I relate the emotions of the characters to my own experiences, my own children, and my own family. I never thought I would react so strongly but having kids changed my perspective and made me very sensitive.
Lately, I have been following a blog that brings me to tears at each new post. The blog is titled Foster Parenting Adventures: Sharing my journey as a foster mother and clinical psychologist. It details the life of a mom who has 2 biological sons and has taken in a foster child. She chronicles her day-to-day experiences with her young foster daughter, CD, and the slow but strong attachment that has built over the past 6 months between her, her husband, kids and the new addition. The blog details the struggle to adopt CD and the threat of losing her to her (currently absentee) biological parents.
I am not a foster parent nor do I ever really intend to be one. However, I truly commend CD's foster mom for all that she has done so far. Her emotional journey is one to which I can relate simply because I have my own children.
Go ahead, check out the blog. I promise, you will be moved.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Media Management
I don't think I maximize my media outlets because that would require an initial investment that I do half-heartedly then regret that I didn't do well enough.
Case in point #1: iTunes
In order to use iTunes you must first import all your songs- faves, kids' songs, family music, downloads, old and new. But to really enjoy using iTunes you need to categorize them into playlists. Songs to play when you are happy or sad... Road trip music, exercise playlists, gleeky tunes, and any other category I might want to play at any given moment.
I am always too lazy to make the most of what I have on my iPhone in order to enjoy it most.
This is why I like services like Pandora, which organizes the music for me. I can pick their playlists depending on my mood.
Case in point #2: Twitter
Twitter gives me live streams from approximately 600 people I am following. There are people who follow 15,000 so my 600 should be manageable, right? Sort of. I have learned to scan and skip while reading tweets. Unfortunately Twitter has taught me that some people are just clutter!
Introducing Twitter Lists which are a means of filtering twitter streams into any category you want (similar to playlists). I should make lists like "moms," "jewcrew," "techies," "friends" and whatever else I listen to on Twitter. But again, like playlists, I am lazy.
This is where I think Facebook has been successful. Facebook's news fees provides an organic kind of list. I can choose to see more or less from a friend fairly simply. I can see recent posts or most popular (based on comments and "likes." Perfect for me.
Here's to hoping 2011 brings simpler media management or motivates me to actually invest some effort so I can maximize my media.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)