By Deborah Blackwell

We live in a #hashtag #world that makes it #easy to become #overwhelmed keeping up with all the #necessary #hastags for #socialmedia posts. #Wow.

I mean, I find social media #tiring as it is, let alone #understanding #analytics to #help boost my #content. It’s almost #comical. 

I #remember when it started. I thought my #hipster son was just using #idioms to be #cool. Little did I know that he was on the #cuttingedge of #existence as we #live it #today.

But no matter how I #try, pretty sure I mess up the hashtags. I’m told by my kids I’m #doingitwrong. I believe that is the case, because I almost don’t get it. I do understand that they tag the world at large and gets posts “out there,” but not sure I can beat the analytics game. (#Keeptrying?)

I don’t want to sound like one of those #old people who does not #think like today’s #modern youth. But I find myself sounding more and more like the generation who uses the words, “I can’t keep up with those crazy kids.” That’s #crazykids. I mean #socialinfluencers.

When Facebook appeared I held back, not really interested in reconnecting with old chums. Turns out I married one, so it was actually the best thing I ever did. But it took a while to get on the #bandwagon, it seemed like one more thing to do. Since the launch of social media, it’s a lot more than “one thing.” It’s a time-consuming endeavor.

Not sure if I’m the only one who feels this way, but nobody really talks about it. Oh, sure there are articles out there that advise cutting back on social media to improve #timemanagement #mentalclarity #bettersleep and #productivity. But does anyone #payattention to the #advice? I don’t see anyone else backing off of their social sites. How do people have the energy to post so many things #all-the-time? Not to mention hashtag with #ease. 

I feel caught in a triangular vortex. One side is simple, stress-reducing #advice: Relax about social media, it’s just there for what you make of it. Another side is: Be sure you strategize your social media if you want your business launched. And then there’s the third angle: It’s nice to keep up with the news (#fake-news?) – of friends, of people, of life. At the end of the day, I still don’t know where the #priorities lie. Life is supposed to be #fun! 

Here’s the #bottomline (no doubt missing some could-be hashtags):

As long as I can remember, I have been trying to #keepup. There are many reasons that predate social media. Mostly, I felt like I was #running from a chaotic present toward more calm and #peace. But in spite of running, I learned to function in a #healthy and #productive way. Without getting too complicated in #analysis, I was able to manage the #dysfunction around me, chronic pain, cancer, three kids, divorce, near bankruptcy, remarriage, police protection from a crazy person, six or seven moves (#lostcount), working, and I still baked cookies. Really good ones. (#Delicious.)

But older now, I still find social media as paralyzing as it is enlightening. Don’t I have to use it to keep up, fit in, be accepted, and be somebody? I’m trying to remember who I am while figuring out how to reinvent myself, because I don’t want to just #keepup, I want to #thrive and #shine.

I’ll #keeptrying to look at social media strategy as an open door instead of a black hole. Our #decisions are up to us, regardless of #pressure from the world. I’m told without 10,000 followers, no publishing contract for my book (#nodeal #lostdream). But did I meet my quota on hashtags? If so, #winning.