Before You Type: A Commemorative Bench and an Ugly Shitbox

You commented. Yet again!

Do you enjoy watching the sheep go nuts while you stir the pot?

Years ago, our little tour group disembarked at a super-scenic spot.
I wandered over to a commemorative bench, the type that people erect to celebrate a loved one.
Keeping the memory alive.
I can’t remember the name on the plaque. He was around 45 when he passed.
That one merely read, “In loving memory of…”

I once read a question on a similar bench: “Why are you here?”

That question was valid, and still is.
Why did you spend a lot of cash to travel to that spot?
Did people go because it seemed better than staying at home for the weekend?
That’s absurd.

Stopping and planning a trip is seldom a whimsical notion,
despite the YOLO and Just Do It brigade.
Is stopping and pausing to comment inside the doom scroll an automatic response?

Ask these questions whenever you comment:
Why am I writing a thought inside an online thread?
You drive behind another car and think, “That is an ugly shitbox.”
Do you pull into the same parking lot, walk over to the driver, and actually say, “Your car is an ugly shitbox?”

Online comments are thoughts, like the type you express at a barbecue.
It’s not that deep.
The difference is, your comments are often directed at strangers, and not at Joe, who is burning your steak.

How much weight does something generate inside you to prompt a written comment?
Something that will probably stay and create a divisive mood.

What you see in a mirror is yours. Your comments become little mirrors, reflecting what bugs you—
things you see in others. Some shadow work comes into play.

Once you understand why you spend time to pause and write down a thought, you won’t experience the epitome of self-discovery, but it’s a start. Do not fire your therapist just yet.

Once, at a lovely spot on a beach, with the sounds of waves breaking, I remember thinking, “I needed to get away from it all, and this spot is perfect.”

I could have written that in sand. I also didn’t write it on someone’s TikTok vid.