{"id":3042,"date":"2023-10-17T10:58:45","date_gmt":"2023-10-17T15:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/markgunterphotography.com\/abo\/?p=3042"},"modified":"2023-10-17T10:58:46","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T15:58:46","slug":"silently-pondering-the-way-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markgunterphotography.com\/abo\/silently-pondering-the-way-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"Silently Pondering The Way Ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A long, entertaining weekend has done little to settle my mind from <a href=\"https:\/\/markgunterphotography.com\/abo\/absurdity-chaos-and-absolute-void\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recent thoughts<\/a>. I am still just plugging along, keeping the lights on as best I can. At this point, I am not sure what lies ahead beyond an incessant series of sunrises and sunsets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Overall Frustrations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I could write for some time about the various frustrations that plague me. Indeed, I have written some draft posts to that effect. Sometimes, it is the simple act of writing things out that paves the way ahead. That is typically enough for me to press ahead. Recently, though, it feels like I have slammed into an impenetrable wall. Changing attitudes that make no sense combined with artificial measures of relative success hinder my ability to find willing collaborators. To sum up, art is a means to express myself. I am finding that others see art as a way to impress others. That is not now and never has been my goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ahead Is A Foggy Path<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There have always been ups and downs in this odd, creative venture. Twists and turns occasionally happen. These days, to be &#8220;in&#8221;, you must sacrifice time and effort to the social media gods. That is not something I care to do and it is not something I seek to feed. I do not care to have my value judged by follows and likes anymore than I care to have my value judged by the label on my jeans. Such measures are created to enrich others first. You pin your value to someone else&#8217;s work and your ability to disown them if something should go amiss in a world that loves cancellation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">That&#8217;s Not Me<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I have never been one of the cool kids. I have always just been me. My time is better spent creating and living life than gathering artificial approval of the social media gods. What I have learned over the years is that when I bow to them, I receive only imitation friendships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Promises Forgotten<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Promises are easily made and seldom fulfilled. Authenticity can only be truly enforced by the promise maker. Rather than waste my time holding those people accountable, I would rather find the authentic people. And that is where I&#8217;m at today. I have no need for those who flatter for favor. I am looking for those who truly want to collaborate without out the silly social media criteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Social media is king. I am unwilling to continuously sacrifice myself on that self-aggrandizing altar. When I do, it renders little if anything at all. I prefer to work with one authentic person than continue speaking to a hundred who never follow through.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A long, entertaining weekend has done little to settle my mind from recent thoughts. I am still just plugging along,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-admin","wpcat-6-id"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Silently Pondering The Way Ahead &#8226; Anything But Ordinary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I have been silently pondering the way ahead for some time. 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It is a path which turns away from forgotten promises and social media idolatry.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/markgunterphotography.com\/abo\/silently-pondering-the-way-ahead\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Anything But Ordinary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MarkGunterPhoto\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/markthebard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-17T15:58:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-17T15:58:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/markgunterphotography.com\/abo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/MGP_WildWest_IMG_5694-Edit_web.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Gunter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@markthebard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@markthebard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Gunter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/markgunterphotography.com\/abo\/silently-pondering-the-way-ahead\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/markgunterphotography.com\/abo\/silently-pondering-the-way-ahead\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mark Gunter\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/markgunterphotography.com\/abo\/#\/schema\/person\/5d76b05248af1fffb04d95999f3c2c1f\"},\"headline\":\"Silently Pondering The Way Ahead\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-17T15:58:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-17T15:58:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/markgunterphotography.com\/abo\/silently-pondering-the-way-ahead\/\"},\"wordCount\":451,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/markgunterphotography.com\/abo\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/markgunterphotography.com\/abo\/silently-pondering-the-way-ahead\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/markgunterphotography.com\/abo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/MGP_WildWest_IMG_5694-Edit_web.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Admin\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/markgunterphotography.com\/abo\/silently-pondering-the-way-ahead\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/markgunterphotography.com\/abo\/silently-pondering-the-way-ahead\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/markgunterphotography.com\/abo\/silently-pondering-the-way-ahead\/\",\"name\":\"Silently Pondering The Way Ahead &#8226; Anything But Ordinary\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/markgunterphotography.com\/abo\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/markgunterphotography.com\/abo\/silently-pondering-the-way-ahead\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/markgunterphotography.com\/abo\/silently-pondering-the-way-ahead\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/markgunterphotography.com\/abo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/MGP_WildWest_IMG_5694-Edit_web.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-17T15:58:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-17T15:58:46+00:00\",\"description\":\"I have been silently pondering the way ahead for some time. 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