I’m not sure when or where this occurred, but at some point I just became less inclined to speak up on social media. I still do, of course, but now there’s this little…cringe….inside of me whenever I do. The sarcasm, the gaslighting, the armchair ‘experts’ who seemingly exist just to punch holes in whatever opinion I have - this mean-spiritedness has made me far, far less likely to engage in most conversations online. And, I’ve watch this translate over into my offline life, as well. It seems like my world has become a gigantic minefield where every step could potentially blow up in my face from someone who somehow got offended by something I said, or someone who has made it their life’s mission to correct every opinion I have. I just….stopped engaging, for the most part.