First, watch this. [link]

Second, a quote that I like, from a Russian priest who lived under the Communist yoke:
"People have lived through too much, through too much difficulty. Everything was done to eradicate faith from the souls of the people. Conditions were such that it became necessary to think only about how to survive, to overcome the obstacles which had been created. Just look at the life which has now been created: radio, magazines, television, newspapers, cinemas and theater create a standardized way of thinking, the same for everyone. This leads to a person being unable to be alone with his own thoughts, to feel the presence of God.
"The pace of today's life, so quick, so constantly pressured, makes people think only according to how somebody wants them to. A person is never alone; even when he is sent to a sanatorium or rest home for a rest, there is always a definite rhythm and program to follow, everything is decided for you. People are fed, informed, and taught what someone else has decided they need. Huge numbers of people are gathered together, but they are separated by the daily battle for life.
"All this has affected even believers, brought them closer to the 'norm', made them indifferent. A prescribed way of thinking makes it difficult for a person to become a believer and makes it difficult for the believer to preserve his faith. But do remember, Christ's Church will live eternally even under these circumstances. Preserve your faith, fight for individuality of thought, pray more, read the Scriptures, and God will preserve you, He will not let you lose the clarity of your thoughts, He will not let you think like the faceless mass of indifferent and cold people."
-- Father Arseny

I've discovered this insidious standardization of all my thoughts and opinions is not limited to the communist regime. It is also known as Pop Culture. If you want to do something really creative, turn off the internet for a while. Don't watch TV. If you want to discover who you really are, cut out what everyone else is telling you that you are. Search your mind, get to know yourself. Are you who you want to be? Remember, you always have your free will. You are not literally wired to the television or the internet. There's this thing called Nature. There's this thing called The Outdoors. The real world is not the world created by human hands, much as we may fool ourselves into thinking it is. Are we so out of touch with nature that days and nights no longer matter?

And so, with that, I am here to say that there are times I will not be online and not available for talking. Sometimes one just has to be alone with one's thoughts. To feel the presence of God, as they say. I'm really bad at it. I love my distractions as much as the next mindless consumer of pop culture. But at some point it has to stop, and I have to discover and build the person that I truly am. Or else, I will end up wasting my life as a mindless husk, a vessel only full of the idle chatter so prevalent on the internet. Is that the limit of human existence? I think not. We are limiting ourselves. So go. Be free. Find out what it means to truly be you.