I love walking long distances. It's the freedom and the ability of movement I enjoy the most, as well as taking in my surroundings. I didn't want to take a train one Sunday to Whole Foods from my house- if you live or know anything about NYC subways on a weekend, you'd feel the same. So I decided to walk the 13.2 miles. For reference I live in the Bronx and the Whole Foods I went to is on the Upper West Side. So I packed my book bag and went for it. The day was beautiful, I stopped and took pictures along my journey and of course the people watching was at it's prime (summers in NYC totally bring out the buffoonery in people).

On my way, I became hyper aware of my surroundings, noticing the black worn in dots on the ground from gum and garbage everywhere. It started driving me crazy. I couldn't walk an inch without stepping over a napkin, a wrapper from some food, a cup, broken glass, etc. My mind started to wonder why anyone would want to live in this? As a business along the street, why would you want all of this garbage that leads into your store or along the path? Is it because we live in NYC and people have become so jaded that no one cares? As if walking to the corner to dump your garbage is a nuisance. Fed up, I decided to do something about it and contact the department of sanitation for NYC about the areas. So far I have received no response even after my follow up emails to them, but I'm very persistent and will keep at it.

Even in our apartment building garbage is an issue. There’s chutes on every floor and if what you have is too large, you bring it to the basement and place it in the specified section for the super to take out. Yet, there's so many people who would rather leave their garbage outside of the chute doors or piled inside of the chute closet instead of opening and dumping it or bringing it to the basement. I'm thankful we don't live near that side of the building where the chute is located, but I feel sorry for who does.

It's sad to know that some people within the community we live in, won't take care of what's theirs/ours. Why would anyone want to walk along in trash or have their kids play on dirty sidewalks and parks or even allow it to pile up in their building? When you see people littering, tell them to throw their garbage in the garbage cans, hence the name. We need to take care of every aspect of ourselves and that especially includes our living spaces.

Do any of you have similar experiences? If so, what did you or what are are you doing to make a positive impact? Drop a line in the comment section and let me know!

If you see a can...put your garbage in it and tell a friend to tell a friend.

It’s been a little over a week since I logged off all social media. I only use Instagram and Pinterest, I have rarely gone on Facebook since last year. This didn’t start as some sort of experiment, but it has become one inadvertently. Originally I did it because I was tired of how much I constantly check and scroll on Instagram- I was basically a zombie just flipping through pictures and double tapping the image. You don’t realize how much of a distraction it is in your daily life until you stop. Once I logged off I immediately felt relief, there was no more pressure for me to post something (mind you I’m the one who’s putting that on myself). I come from a career in marketing (10+ years), so I know and understand the world we live in and how important social media is for our voices to be heard and to promote ourselves. I get it, I don’t care as much, but I get it.

Don’t get it twisted I love to post pictures or video of my friends, loved ones or a fun adventure because they are special to me and I want to share. I just don’t do it for the double tap. For me, there are images that have received 20 and then there are those with over 200. It’s funny to see what gets what, as in what others deem as “cool” or skip over because they feel it doesn’t deserve their endorsement. As if any persons validation should be important enough for you to become a feen for a “like”. But there are those that crave it, they “do it for the gram” and it’s only good for them when they see how many approve of it. I know quite a few people that do this and it makes me sad for them, I want to break their chains from the stronghold they have over themselves.

I will log back on this week, mainly because some friends and I are on a group DM (direct message- for anyone who is not familiar). We literally talk all day every day about politics, funny memes, crazy videos we see, calling out each other, promoting what we have currently going on, etc. So in a way, I have felt disconnected from life in that sense. Of course, I talk to them outside of social media, but some are more likely to check a DM than a text because that’s the culture we are in.

I have used the collective time sans social media to read, whether it’s a book or the news or information about something of interest. It’s interesting to see how much time logging on and scrolling can take out of your life, instead of spending time in the present. I need to continue to take my own advice, but it’s hard when it has become habitual. I love to take pictures or video so that won’t stop, but I know that I don’t need to be so quick to post and constantly look to see how many people liked it. If I like it, that’s enough and what others choose to deem worthy of their “likes” should not be my concern. So the question remains with me: did my experiment cleanse my self-inflicted social paranoia? In a way, yes. I no longer feel the need to log on, but I will because there are things I need to publicize and I want to support those who support me by promoting their stuff too. Social media as we all know is a gift and a curse, but we learn (or will learn) that once you have love for yourself you no longer need likes.

With just one click, it owns you and you become a slave to it.