As I pull myself out of my funk after taking a break from blogging and other social media, I have made an interesting observation.

People think they know everything about you and what is going on in your life by your posts on social media.

That may be true for the Twitterers who tweet every toilet visit, but most of us do not share that level of life detail. But there is a lot going on in my world besides my frustration with how the Presidential election turned out. Spouse has unresolvable and persistent health issues; I was an invited speaker at a major scientific forum last week that got national press; remodeling job for a veteran’s old house was completed; I have a cold; big event over the weekend at work results in overdrive-overtime; and much more. I know you don’t really care about that stuff — just goes to show that life goes on despite a hiatus from social media.

My absence from social media and complete avoidance of listening to, watching, or reading the news has been interesting. I find that I have a LOT more time to do other activities. I was not aware how much of a time-suck social media had become, and how avoiding the news actually helps me feel better and not get sucked into anger and depression brought forth by incremental torture of the media “looking for a story.”

I may continue with a lessened frequency of posts… I dunno.

It will take a long time to recover from the stupid and wrong-headed thing my country did on November 8, as well as from the dangerous outcomes now revealing themselves as I predicted — it was never about the candidate, but always the people that the candidate surrounds himself with. His cabinet and Supreme Court choices will set our country back decades.

Meanwhile, I will try to thrive and show them that yes, indeed, there is life out here among those of us who believe in fairness, justice, and know what acceptance and embrace of diversity really means.

Life is short: thrive in the face of adversity. (Thanks, S.V.)Our annual fall photo.