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The Psychology of a Hater: A True Social Media Story

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What is the psychology of a hater? According to the Huffington Post : The psychology of a hater is someone imposing their self-hate onto others. It’s not as much about you, as it is about them. According to Psychology Today : a phenomenon known as projection, (coined by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud) describes a tendency to reject what we don’t like about ourselves with a desire to fill the void due to a lack of self-compassion. Demonstrating some people’s feelings of inadequacy. Having walked away from Facebook & those I assumed were my “friends” in 2016, the last thing I wanted was to find myself once again involved with noxious characters. Sadly, that is what I encountered in mid 2021. Someone who I believed was a genuine fan of the same Finnish rock band, I also enjoy musically. Unfortunately discovering instead, a mentally unbalanced individual, obsessed with rock stars, sex, drugs & rock n’ roll and now terrifyingly; someone who is also obsessed with me! In my po...

Goodbye 2021

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Each new year begins with the hope and promise of being better than the last. Traditionally, December 31st and January 1st mark the official celebration of the passing of one year, while we look forward to a new year ahead. For some, January 1st allows a time of reflection & renewal. A moment to pause to remember the blessings in our lives and a chance to recommit ourselves to our resolutions. As 2020 socially isolated us, 2021 remained hopeful for many including myself. After enduring the impacts of closures, limited mobility and seclusion, the bleak new reality of what we all experienced together left many uneasy. Not since the 1918 Spanish Influenza has the world experienced the loss of so much life, than those from COVID 19. Luckily in 2021, a light at the end of a very dark tunnel was revealed. Beginning with the AstraZeneca vaccine, quickly followed up by Moderna, Pfizer and lastly, Johnson & Johnson. That beacon of hope however, would be challenged by conspiracy theoris...

Toxic Fandoms: Social Media and Why it’s Difficult To Be a Fan Today

Fan bases should leave a sense of community. Where people share their love of music for a band, group or artist & experiences of concerts and meet & greets. Not where people are turned away at the door for whatever reason. That's not a community. Take it from someone who knows! But what does it mean to be a fan these days? Especially, in the sphere of social media? As someone who once ran a fan group on Facebook, one thing I learned is: Responsible admins always cater not only to fans, but also to the bands, groups and artists they promote. Think of it as Public Relations: a page that promotes an upcoming project, music video and/or album. However, being a fan can be difficult in the age of social media. After private conversations over Twitter, I encountered I wasn’t alone in being blocked by an Instagram page claiming to promote a band from Finland. One, I was newly familiar with. A page I myself had ZERO interaction with, but became aware of only to find myself blocked f...

Remembrance Day: In Flanders Fields By: John McCrae May 3, 1915

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                                                                                     In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. Images: Essex County Cenotaph - Windsor, Ontario Taken: August 29, 2019 Image: Flags of The Fallen. Windsor - Essex Remembrance Day Ceremony Taken: Novembe...

Remembering 9/11: 20 Years Later

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Many people remember where they were on the morning of September 11th, 2001. For me, I’ll never forget the horror I awoke to after crawling out of bed that morning. For many, September 11, 2001 started out as just another beautiful day. Until a single act of terror would ripple over the next 2-decades of our lives. The morning of September 11, 2001 was not your usual morning for me. Instead, I would be rattled awake by my mother from a peaceful sleep. That morning, my bedroom alarm clock was set to wake me up early in order to prepare myself to attend a meeting at a nearby Catholic High School early that day, to inquire about enrolling after finding myself expelled from my previous high school (long story). And while I would still attend that meeting; I found myself first confronting the horror only those who lived through Pearl Harbor in 1941 faced. At first, when I was awakened to the news of the attack on the Trade Towers (in a half-awake/half-asleep stooper) , I thought my mother ...

Think Piece: How MTV's Catfish Revealed MORE Than Just Fake People Online

Love means never having to “I’m sorry” and idealistically, the most important part of any relationship should always be honesty. Recently, I’ve been casually binge-watching MTV’s Catfish on Crave Canada . I’ve seen some of the show from time to time whenever it aired on MTV Canada however due to the pandemic and recent 2nd wave lockdown protocols, I’ve had some time to also watch episodes I’ve missed. Which brings me to why I’m writing this. It was after showing the “Jacqueline Linkwood aka: Tracey Barbie” episode to my parents that my father brought up something I never contemplated: IDENTITY THEFT ! Cambridge Dictionary’s definition of the word Con Artist is:  “a person who deceives other people by making them believe something false or making them give money away” As we all know social media offers nothing other than artificial relationships more often than not, with people we don’t even know and everyday, people are forming “intimate relationships” with those whom they’ve...