When I think of media... (a rhyme for our time)
Inspired by Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein, Free To Be You And Me, and my Dad, I've written a poem. A poem for media. I hope you like it. You can click on the video to hear me recite it. If it makes you smile and you'd like a print copy, please send me an email directly for a PDF.
When I think of media
When I think of media
I think of fun
of TV and music and video games won
When I think of media
I think of me
of selfies and videos-- don’t you agree?
When I think of media
I think of time
The hours spend staring, the minutes that I’m
Gazing and tapping and creating posts
Editing photos I don’t like the most
When I think of media
I think, who cares?
Who’s counting the likes or the tweets or the shares?
Yet sometimes I’m caught up
In how others see
The way I look online, the image of me
In real life I’m different
Better, I hope
Than the photoshopped face under your microscope
So, I try to resist that magical pull
That media has to make me feel so full
Of myself, of my needs, of that smartphone I hold
Is technology freedom, or am I controlled?
I need to examine the way that I feel
When I’m so connected I may miss a meal
When the lure of all episodes watched back-to-back
Means I’m not much more than an insomniac!
When getting a high score or accessing levels
Leaves the house all a mess and my hair quite disheveled.
When downloading songs and chatting online
Means I’ve missed the sunshine and mountains to climb
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love all of it too
A day filled with movies, and skyping my crew
I love how my GPS finds me a way
And finding out what top celebrities say
I ‘m still quite amazed
At a search engine’s skill
How do they know what I mean? It’s just a thrill.
I work on a laptop, read only e-books
Text notes as reminders, “pin” favorite cookbooks
I download and tweet, I post and I save
I record and delete, and find more that I crave
When I think of media
I think of it all
From the tiniest file, to a digital haul.
I try to reflect on the who, what, and where
I balance my screen time, I’m sure to take care
Of time that I’m spending eyes locked on a screen
So I can squeeze time with you right in between
