Turn off. Tune Out. Reset.
This has been a tough year. Physically, mentally, emotionally, politically, socially. We all need to take a step back and take a deep breath. For far too long we’ve been yelling at each other and nobody seems to be listening to anybody else anymore. We’re in a feedback loop wherein our bubbles of truth reinforce our viewpoints without providing a means for dialogue to expand our knowledge, challenge our collective selves, and become better neighbors, citizens, custodians of this planet.
I’m guilty of ghosting friends who don’t agree with me. Even as I type that I think, “yeah, but that’s because they have chosen to ignore science and facts and reality.” And yet if that’s the case how can I ever hope to talk to them and move forward? We are in fact all in this together. We can ignore each other but we cannot fight with each other. The moment violence enters into the dialogue, it’s no longer a debate. It’s then just anarchy and a fight for who will emerge ruler of the mountain. This is not a way forward. It’s a way toward suffering and inequity, of petty bullying and massive dystopia.
This is a hard thing to do amidst a global pandemic wherein the smartest thing we can do is to buckle down and really push for social distancing, wearing masks, and maintaining physical distances. The vaccines and the recovery from the pandemic requirements to save lives will take time. This is not going to be over and done with any time soon. It requires us all working together while apart to save the day.
At the same time, we need to work toward getting together again. We need to work toward talking, not shouting. Toward engaging, not just superficially “liking.” We need a reset.
So I’m determined to turn off notifications on my phone. To put my phone down more often. To disengage from social media and attempt to re-connect with my social group, with my living, breathing friends and family. Technology is still a huge part of that – I’m hoping to do a virtual game night with some folks this weekend. But we need to stop living our lives through valuations determined by other people, by strangers who follow us or comment on our posts (or not comment as the case may be).
Come join me in the real world. And yes I acknowledge the hypocritical irony of posting this in cyberspace on a webpage. But we have to start somewhere to take steps into the larger world around us. Might as well be here.
Think globally, live and act locally.
I hope to see you out there.