August 26, 2026
As I look around me, I can’t help but
notice how challenging life is becoming for us all. Partly, and most
absolutely, the environment—in any definition of that word you choose—is less
easy going than it once was. Not only are there more physical upheavals
(weather, wildfires and violence), but we are also bombarded with more
information, more noise than we ever were in times past.
I tried to think of something I could
liken the level of this seemingly constant barrage of stimulus to. The only
thing in my lived experience was the few times as a young woman when I would go
to a bar that had music videos playing on large screens at full blast, while
everyone around you shouted in the (futile) hope of being heard.
The constant broadcasting of information
is like that. People today seem anxious to unplug and go off the grid,
desperate for a break—to disconnect from society. And they spend a lot of money
to do just that.
Disconnecting from society didn’t used to
be called that. It was simply alone time. You turned off the television and the
radio. Unplugged the phone if you had to. And there, in the comfort of your own
home you were “disconnected from society”. You could have that necessary alone
time.
We all need time to be alone, to be able
to power down our thinking, our coping, our emotional responses. We need to
breathe. We need to relax. We need to be able to place ourselves in a state of
grace so that we can cherish the sound of the ticking of the clock on the wall.
Oh dear. I just realized that last
metaphor may not be as universal as it used to be.
The noise of social media is more harmful
than we know. I’ve come to that conclusion. Social media can be a useful tool. In
the right hands, it can even help save lives. But we must always remember that we
are the users and it is the tool. We’ve given this particular form of media a
kind of mission creep within the boundaries of our lives. Instead of using the
thoughts and ideas of others to simply inform us, we far too trustingly have given
those voices too much authority in our minds. We’ve let it replace our own
sense of self, our own moral compasses, as well as our own common sense.
Even when I was young, aka the old days,
the saying was: “The only problem with common sense is it's not very common.”
Another expression I would sometimes hear
growing up? “If your friends jumped off the cliff would you jump off it, too?”
Now, setting aside the humanitarian gut instinct of wanting to save said
friends, the answer was always no. Because in those days the thought of
needing to save anyone presupposed that those in need of rescue weren’t stupid enough
to jump off that cliff in the first place. That saying meant this: you’re
responsible for all of your actions, so stop and think first.
Recently I’ve been using this noodle of
mine to better advantage when it comes to social media. And by social media, I
mean the ones I use regularly: Face Book and YouTube. I do have Instagram, but
I really don’t know how to use it very well. I used to have Twitter, but it
died, the first social media platform to be torn apart by wild, ravenous beasts.
I do not have Tik-Tok or whatsit, because there’s only so much modern
technology I can cram into my brain.
So, using my noodle…..when I get postings from
“friends” on my Face Book feed and it’s outside my own boundaries of decency, I
unfriend whoever sent it to me. As for YouTube, I’m careful about what I will
watch. Some videos have a hook they don’t honor. I stay away from anything that
is obvious misinformation, or that intones hatred—and I use the discretion that
I’ve been gifted with as my filter. I prefer uplifting messages, especially the
rescue of animals or humans by random people. Because I have come to the
conclusion that there are two kinds of people one meets via social media, and on
YouTube, especially.
Extraordinary people who in the course of
their lives have achieved much good; and ordinary people who, when placed in
extraordinary circumstances, rise to the occasion and thereby fill us with
pride and gratitude.
And I am convinced of the fact, and
pleased to announce, that the latter far outnumber the former, by a landslide.
Love,
Morgan
http://www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury
No comments:
Post a Comment