How is your Monday going, friends?? I was all set to post the first installment of the Holiday Gift Guide and then…well, I got just a little bit sidetracked by the Best of the Year list on Twitter…

Why, you ask??? Because Yours Truly is ON IT.

OMG OMG OMG OMG

Nothing like finding out you made the coveted “19 of 2019” list on Twitter to turn your Monday frown upside down!!!

I’m speechless. Again. I feel like I’ve been saying that a lot over the last three months, but it’s the best way to describe the swirl of emotions I’ve felt since September. And seriously, I never win anything!! In fact, I’d be more likely to end up on a Worst Dressed list than any kind of Best list!!

Nonetheless, this was quite a nice surprise — and one I’m very honored to receive!! Because, really, it just reaffirms social media’s power for good. We like to criticize social media. We’re quick to say it’s nothing more than a cesspool of negativity and bullies and believe me, I know all about its dark side — I mean, that’s precisely why my tweet went viral in the first place.

So, yes, there is far too much hate on social media. But there’s also good. There are people who are genuinely kind and decent and caring. Granted, their voices are usually overshadowed by the loud voices of trolls, but I promise you that the good ones are out there. I even wrote my essay for Canada’s Local Love about those very people…

There will always be dark corners of the internet, but that doesn’t mean we can’t all play our part in making it a brighter and safer space. That could mean something as simple as giving someone a positive shout-out on Twitter, sharing a good-news story or sparking a respectful conversation around an issue that matters to you.

As so much of our socializing migrates online, we all need to think about building strong and positive online communities. And just as IRL, that means treating others the way you’d like to be treated. That might sound like overly simple advice for our sophisticated technology-based times, but as we hurtle from one iPhone upgrade to the next and the range of social platforms out there expands at a dizzying pace, one thing remains constant: We’re all still humans behind our devices, and we all feel and function better when we choose to be kind.

Indeed, we’re all human and a little kindness can go a long way in these glued-to-our-iPhone times. And speaking of our iPhone, my mom is always saying that I spend too much time on social media. I’ll be reminding her of this tweet every day for all of eternity now!!

As always, THANK YOU for the overwhelming support, friends!! I’m beyond thrilled that I’ve met so many awesome people — all because of some not-so-awesome people. Isn’t it funny how life works sometimes?? xoxo