With the new year upon us and my life in full transition I feel the need to cut things out of my life that are not conducive to happiness. This means that I’ll be slowly “unfriending” people on Facebook who I became friends with due to my political ties. I am a libertarian, I love libertarians, but I no longer feel like it is necessary to keep people in my network simply because they are libertarian. This is particularly true for the brand of libertarian who thinks we are a faction of conservativism. If someone is going to ruthlessly put down someone for their sexual choices or their personal lifestyle then they are a negative influence on my life and I don’t want them. I don’t mind reasoned discussions about the pros and cons of lifestyle choices for individuals or society as a whole but blanket attacks on a group of individuals based on who they interact with sexually is childish, intellectually dishonest, and bigoted (basically, it is a reflection of the status quo of DC and not my life).
At the party last weekend I had two interesting run-ins that sort of relate to this. One person, whom I greatly respect and always enjoy talking to, mentioned that he enjoyed my Facebook posts and hoped to talk to me about them. I don’t know what in particular he wanted to discuss but if someone as positive as him enjoyed them then I feel I am doing something right and want to keep my page going in that direction. Secondly, I was part of a conversation where I heard about a couple who very logically sat down regularly and figured out what “friends” in their life where making things better, had the potential to make things better, or were a drain on them. They then acted appropriately to remove people who were a drain and to focus on those who were a blessing.
So I guess this is part of my focus for 2013… cut the fat, remove negative influences, and focus on those people who I enjoy and those people who I think I could enjoy.
Wandering Oak 