A Writers Perspective

After reading an article from Author Alice Walker on mediation of inner spaces, I think her perspective on the writing process was an easy flow of knowledge and positive reinforcement. Walker talks about her life struggles as a single mother etc. and how she uses a meditation method called “Metta” to help her resolve any issues she may have with people she has encountered. According to Walker (2000)” We were being guided to send metta to a loved one, a benefactor, a neutral person and a difficult person.” The difficult person, assuredly the person to whom you have had the most conflict with would shockingly be the person to whom you have the most conflict with. A lot of what Walker says makes sense to me and my own personal experiences. The people that you have had conflict with over the years all deserve closure and so do you. Metta is described as one of the best methods of relieving old tension and moving on with your life. For example, in a metta sent to someone it would state “May you be happy” which is not a statement built on sarcasm but rather positive resolution.

I strongly agree with Alice walker’s approach to alternative methods of life changing resolutions by means of metta. In Psychology, you learn that people compensate for actions and emotions that are not always explainable at first sight. You also learn that as humans, we tend to manifest our feelings and thoughts etc. in different ways including internalization's. If you have anger built up inside for various life experiences, how are you going to forgive those involved and move on? What positive methods will you acquire to do so? Life is a continual process, in which we as humans continue to emotionally evolve every day. My thinking has significantly changed throughout this course regarding a writer’s perspective in the social media environment. I feel that as a writer and communication professional, it is my duty to state fact without persuading targeted audiences to my personal opinions. You have to leave it up to your reader to voice their own opinion on your publicized work. Social media is a new age technological tool that has forever changed the dynamic of human interaction and relationships through online forums. A writer is a human who has a talent for writing however, the reader is a human with a perspective on a writer’s talent. This course taught me as a writer to accept more responsibility for what I blog to readers and in return target larger audiences. Not everyone will agree with your opinions or methods of tranquility such as metta etc. But you are the key to your success and the journey starts and ends with you.

References

Walker, Alice. (2000). After 20 Years, Meditation Still Conquers Inner Space. New York Times.

Retrieved from:  http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/23/arts/23WALK.html

Social Media: Fact or Fiction?

How do we as hominids obtain knowledge? Well according to Kovach and Rosentiel (2010) "Humans from birth are neurologically hardwired to make sense of their individualized environments." We as humans obtain knowledge and evolve first by our senses such as touch, feel, taste and smell etc. Kovach and Rosentiel (2010) also states that "Overtime, as we get older and learn more," We obtain knowledge through various types of media such as blogs, newspapers, social media etc." To me, Knowledge is something that is learned and cannot be taken away. Epistemelogical foundations are set from birth on up to death however, how we learn what we learn is contingent on our surroudings. I would not be who I am if it wasnt for my mother, who attended college and knew the importance of reading, writing and advocating for free speech. As you grow older especially in a time of fast technological advances such as social media in today's society, you have to learn all you can learn. 

One new thing that i've learned using social media websites would   be that my favorite popstar Beyonce was set to release her music video called "Grown Woman." The song Grown Woman was originally featured as a short promo song for Beyonce's exclusive commercial deal with pepsi.  In the video she's glancing into a set of mirrors that all showcase her past iconic looks as alteregos such as Sasha Fierce. Through Instagram, tons of followers were posting short thirty second leaked video snippets of what was supposedly the "real" video set to be released in December. I personally started to believe the video release hype because it was not only on Instagram, but featured on Facebook, Tumblr etc. The news quickly flooded the internet on NBC, ABC news etc. The video itself started to seem to me as if it was authentic which come to find out, it actually was. Then on December 13, 2013 Beyonce released her fifth studio exclusively to itunes at midnight and informed her fans by releasing a short instagram video. Stark and Crawley (2013) states " On Thursday, after almost a year of speculation over the release of her fifth album, the 32-year-old singer rush released her latest studio effort on iTunes with no promotion or prior warning to her fans." The news of Beyonce releasing her highly anticipated album was a jaw dropper for me and to this day I still laugh at the surprise because she shocked everyone. This is a perfect example of social media sites that have potential crediability however, they arent always a relaible source of information. 

I personally think that social media websites aren't always creditable for obtaining information from because alot of sources come tend to derive from one another. An common issue with communication and journalism is that alot of gossip tends to pollute original sources which leads the reader to discern whats valid from whats false. This doesnt mean that looking a someone's blog is automatically subject to examine its sources further, but you should always question what you read. From a researchers perspective I tend to believe information that also has longitutional empircal research attached to it or tend to provide the same information across multiple media sources. Social media sources arent always reliable, but its up to you as the reader to determine what is fact from fiction. 

References 

Kovach, B., & Rosentiel, T. (2010). Blur: How to know whats true in the 

age of information overload. New York: Bloomsbury, USA. 

Stark, G., & Crawley, J. (2013). 'I see music!': Beyonce shocks fans as 

she releases groundbreaking self titled album... along with

SEVENTEEN new videos featuring Jay Z, Blue Ivy and her mom. 

Daily Mail. Retreived from: 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2522985/Beyonce-

shocks-fans-releases-new-album-17-new-videos.html