Thankfully I Grew Up Before Facebook!

So I have been thinking about it a lot and kind of cracking up at the whole Facebook phenomenon and how it is totally transforming the face of the planet. I mean, did you know that if Facebook were a country, it would be the 4th largest? And that is across language, geographic, cultural and other boundaries! Pretty incredible. Talk about global oneness!

The one thing I am most grateful for is that I grew up before Facebook. Now I know that there are many great things about Facebook - reconnecting with old friends, staying in touch with others, learning all sorts of random, relevant and irrelevant, stories through sharing, events, and more. But the truth is, I am really relieved that I didn't grow up with Facebook in my youth, high school and college years.

I mean really, can you imagine the pool parties that used to get busted in high school or the keg stands in college coming back to haunt you 5-10 years later in a job interview? I know those of you who know me are probably thinking two things: 1) what is little miss perfect athlete, student, daughter of an Italian father (and we all know what that means! ;) talking about, she never partied? and 2) what happened to the angelic, guru, yogini?

Ok, so yes even I have some old stories and skeletons in my closet. Don't we all? And that is just the point. Youth may not know the implications their actions can have on them later in life. What a tough way to find out? While I am very glad and grateful that I don't have to deal with that scenario, I can't help but think about what this means for today's youth and how many other unforeseen and unintended consequences there are in this brave new world of social media?

One thing is for sure, it is calling on all of us to show up more authentically in ourselves and to show, and also live, the more positive and beneficial sides to our life, as the alternative might come back to bite us in the butt. While these may be the wrong reasons to do the right thing, it actually bodes well for the overall direction we are headed. It will be fun and interesting to watch as all of the other implications unfold.

Happy Facebooking all! You can find me at www.facebook.com/pilarstella
;) p