Hello, Captain Obvious! Yeah, I know I’m stating the obvious here, but this is more a reminder for myself than a note to others.
Over this past weekend, I have seen a multitude of memes and personal perspectives that shockingly didn’t align with my own. Oh, the horrors! This was a little disconcerting believing the world revolved around me and my personal ideology. As I started to type my dissent, and in some cases went back to delete it, I realized this person is just on a different journey than myself. I don’t like when people bust my bubble, why should I take the role of bubble-buster?
Now granted, in this age of fake news and propaganda, it is important in some cases to set the fact straight (though people who push propaganda rarely care for the truth), but most of the millions online sharing their life perspectives are coming from their own truths. I will give a few examples, when a woman who claims to be a dating expert posed the question: Should men still pay for dinner on their first date? Should women allow men to order for them? My initial feminist response was only if it was still 1950. I decided not to comment and instead scrolled on by. What’s the point on offering dissent to a person who is on a different journey or has a different ideology when it surrounds relationships. Obviously, she and I are looking for different men and different relationships.
On a similar post, a meme suggested women should feel free to be sarcastic. Of course, a slew of Miss Manners erupted on the thread claiming sarcasm isn’t nice. Okay, well this isn’t the place for me as every word dripping from my tongue is laced with sarcasm, and I have an entirely different take on sarcasm as a verbal tool. Anyhow, I moved on without comment realizing this just sparked another blog – Manners versus Civility. Inspiration received!
This dissent does not come from a place of being right or wrong. There is no factual bias with personal reflections. It all stems from the environment in which we were raised, our stage in life, personal issues we have overcome, etc., etc. And while it does still feel as though what I am typing is obvious, how come many still get caught in a tizzy every time someone posts something that doesn’t suit their personal ideology? Why are many seemingly engaged to attack the keyboard with the slightest offense to our opinions?
The more confident we are within ourselves and our own personal views, the easier it is to accept others’ opinions. BOOM! Drops mic and walks off the stage.
Everything we react to is not because of what another person does or say, it has everything to do with our own feelings. Yes feelings…woah, woah feelings… Personally, when I see someone post something that nabs me in my gut, or makes my brain hurt I feel the need to react, but my reaction will hold no weight to those who feel differently. We are not driven by ideology and personal perspectives, we are driven by feelings and our emotional attachments. So, in a way, we are not posting opinions, we are posting feelings that shaped our perspective, and since we are all coming from different worlds (in a sense), we have to understand someone else is walking on a different path. Good luck to them. I hope they arrive safely.
What I see, is so many looking to find remedies to their own issues through the perspective lens of others and when something doesn’t feel right, they lash out. In order to healthily navigate this new social media paradigm, we need to encourage tools for self-awareness and self-healing. Once we realize, we hold the key to our own emotional attachment to our perspectives and not have to depend on others, the freer we will be and the less discord we will have in our lives. As a reminder to myself, just let it go and let live.
Peace. Namaste.
Over this past weekend, I have seen a multitude of memes and personal perspectives that shockingly didn’t align with my own. Oh, the horrors! This was a little disconcerting believing the world revolved around me and my personal ideology. As I started to type my dissent, and in some cases went back to delete it, I realized this person is just on a different journey than myself. I don’t like when people bust my bubble, why should I take the role of bubble-buster?
Now granted, in this age of fake news and propaganda, it is important in some cases to set the fact straight (though people who push propaganda rarely care for the truth), but most of the millions online sharing their life perspectives are coming from their own truths. I will give a few examples, when a woman who claims to be a dating expert posed the question: Should men still pay for dinner on their first date? Should women allow men to order for them? My initial feminist response was only if it was still 1950. I decided not to comment and instead scrolled on by. What’s the point on offering dissent to a person who is on a different journey or has a different ideology when it surrounds relationships. Obviously, she and I are looking for different men and different relationships.
On a similar post, a meme suggested women should feel free to be sarcastic. Of course, a slew of Miss Manners erupted on the thread claiming sarcasm isn’t nice. Okay, well this isn’t the place for me as every word dripping from my tongue is laced with sarcasm, and I have an entirely different take on sarcasm as a verbal tool. Anyhow, I moved on without comment realizing this just sparked another blog – Manners versus Civility. Inspiration received!
This dissent does not come from a place of being right or wrong. There is no factual bias with personal reflections. It all stems from the environment in which we were raised, our stage in life, personal issues we have overcome, etc., etc. And while it does still feel as though what I am typing is obvious, how come many still get caught in a tizzy every time someone posts something that doesn’t suit their personal ideology? Why are many seemingly engaged to attack the keyboard with the slightest offense to our opinions?
The more confident we are within ourselves and our own personal views, the easier it is to accept others’ opinions. BOOM! Drops mic and walks off the stage.
Everything we react to is not because of what another person does or say, it has everything to do with our own feelings. Yes feelings…woah, woah feelings… Personally, when I see someone post something that nabs me in my gut, or makes my brain hurt I feel the need to react, but my reaction will hold no weight to those who feel differently. We are not driven by ideology and personal perspectives, we are driven by feelings and our emotional attachments. So, in a way, we are not posting opinions, we are posting feelings that shaped our perspective, and since we are all coming from different worlds (in a sense), we have to understand someone else is walking on a different path. Good luck to them. I hope they arrive safely.
What I see, is so many looking to find remedies to their own issues through the perspective lens of others and when something doesn’t feel right, they lash out. In order to healthily navigate this new social media paradigm, we need to encourage tools for self-awareness and self-healing. Once we realize, we hold the key to our own emotional attachment to our perspectives and not have to depend on others, the freer we will be and the less discord we will have in our lives. As a reminder to myself, just let it go and let live.
Peace. Namaste.
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