I’m Exhausted. Time to Move On!

I’m exhausted.

Not from lifting weights on my porch in 103-degree temperatures. That’s actually allowed me to maintain most of my strength while keeping my quarantine weight gain from forcing the earth to shift its axis.

I’m exhausted by social media.

Unless asked, I typically keep my opinions to myself. That is, until about two months ago when I decided to share comments on subjects I thought were obvious, ironic, and asinine. I’m a news junkie who devours several sources daily, but practicing social distancing had me looking for meaningful mature conversation. I thought I needed to hear others’ opinions and ideas, to compare interpretations of events, and evaluate whether what I believed was in the best interest of myself and my family and did not cause undue harm to others.

I actually never really talked to anyone before about politics and policy, except when it applied to education. But abruptly in March I had lost the ability to speak to teachers – at the colleges and high school – and for the past five years I really haven’t hung out with friends. Part of that was because I was busy finishing my degrees, working three jobs, and my friends were working harder than they had in several years. I also stopped drinking five years ago, so the bars being closed hasn’t been a factor. I still want to see bar owners — some of whom are friends of mine – survive the pandemic, I just don’t rely on them for social activity. Even the gym was not a great place for intellectual exercise. Because of my work schedule I couldn’t have a workout “buddy,” leaving me to my own thoughts between sets.

So, with too many thoughts and, now, too much free time I began posting topics, questions, sarcasm, and satire on Facebook to generate conversation. My intent was never to convert anyone to my way of thinking, I was hopeful I would be able to have them consider a different point of view. Some of my posts were biased (intentionally and, unfortunately, unintentionally) and some I tried to offer as neutral to evenly encourage input from both sides. The resulting dialogue reminded me of the discussions I used to hear in the bars. There were quiet, thoughtful responses to my posts and there were others shouting profanities and personal insults. Had some of this actually been in a bar I could imaging the respondents taking swings at each other. There were fact-filled and fact-less arguments, myopic declarations, and allegiances to people and positions despite evidence of hypocrisy. Neither side was innocent of either type of response, and in the past two months I saw only one example of someone willing to eat crow. It’s this inability to concede to another’s point of view that has left me exhausted.

But that’s not to say I haven’t learned something. Politically, over the past four years I have gained more respect for and a better understanding of the power of the Senate, the permanence and importance of federal judiciary appointees, the legality of following statutes and the Constitution, and the critical need to accelerate litigation through every level of the court system. From now on, these will be top considerations every time I vote.

And I will continue to write, but not about partisan politics. Moving forward, I’m going to focus on the evolution of public education. The result of this pandemic will change how we deliver education at all levels – elementary, secondary, and post-secondary – and there will be plenty to research and write about. Decisions will need to be made by education professionals with hands-on teaching experience, while curriculum and pedagogy will be driven by budgets and technology in a manner unlike anything we’ve seen before. Teachers will be required to teach differently while students will need more supports to achieve in this new learning environment.

I imagine that keeping up with all these new advancements in education is going to be exhausting, but I know I’ll be able to learn something, here, too.