Bill's Musings

      Someone told me recently that my wife and I share quite a bit of personal information on social media. They were pointing out that we aren’t the only ones with sick parents or sick dogs or with situations on life that aren’t always ideal. And at first I reflected upon what was said and thought about whether we should make a change.

So I went through my posts on Facebook. I went through my wife Anne’s posts. And then I realized something: roughly 99% of our posts were of a positive nature. Anne is posting and sharing positive affirmation messages, I try to as well, and maybe a joke or two (or 500). And yes, we have chronicled some of the more devastating news that we have had family health wise and autism wise. And we communicate via Facebook to our friend’s network a lot.

It’s 2015. Anne and I are a couple living with autism in our household. Nothing new there. And Facebook has helped us express things we otherwise may not have been able to. And for sure it isn’t for everyone. But it is for us. We both have private families, people who in life often did not communicate things to us that may have been important to us at the time. We do not live like that. We want our kids and friends and neighbours to have access to the right things, to hear positive things are happening in the midst of not so positive.

My father was just diagnosed with Dementia. A proud man, a strong and silent man, one who helped people and remained an optimistic and light-hearted beacon in our lives. So of course this news has been devastating. But we draw courage and energy from the positive outpouring of support we have received from people far and wide on our network. And it is most appreciated.

Laugh or cry, people are going to know we are alive and still functioning. And we will offer our support to so many back. It’s how things are now. It is genuine. It is also the truth, not rumours, as small towns are prone to.

We really are no different from everyone else. We suffer the same things. We celebrate victories big and small. We love our friends. And we try our best to send light and love and energy to as many as possible.

Energy is a funny thing. It seems that the more we expend the more we receive. And that for the most part is a good thing. Be it the Chronicles of Jerome and Jenn (our Elves), or our dog Bob the Mini Schnauzer, it is all meant to live and laugh in a world where social media can be used for good or bad. We choose good. And if that means we let people know when something not so good is happening, well….that’s how we roll.

Dare to share.