Fear, anger, pain. In certain cases, they can start an action. Yet, you need to leave them behind as soon as your action crystallizes and takes a concrete shape.
If you fail to do it, you’ll soon find yourself projecting that initial, important emotion on every body and every thing around you. You will burn down bridges, forgo opportunities, isolate in your own narrative.
Remember fear, anger and pain, but leave them behind as soon as you can.
The change you are seeking demands it.
How much information do we consume daily? And out of that, how much information do we understand, evaluate, put into our daily practice, and eventually use to improve?
We have never been more exposed to facts, theories, news, practices, frameworks.
We have never been more superficial.
We must say “I am sorry” and “thank you” as many time as it is needed to strip the expressions of any trace of shame, defeat, capitulation. We must say that often, over and over again.
Even when we are not fully convinced we should.
Even when the other person’s behaviour does not fully justify it.
Even when there are tens of additional things to take into consideration.
It is one of the most effective ways to train the empathy muscle, and start seeing those around us as human beings that live outside of our narratives.
Give it a try.
As it often happens with complex issues, even the discourse around the current pandemic has been shrinked to a binary matter: economy vs (public) health.
And of course, as with any complex issue, there is much more to take into consideration. There is the problem of parents who are taking care of their kids full-time while also working. There is the problem of foreign students who can’t support themselves for the lack of part-time and seasonal jobs. There is the effect of high level of stress and anxiety on the general well-being, that clearly mostly affects those who already face difficulties in a normal situation (and not only in the US).
If we want to move past (and forward) this serious situation, picking a side is probably not the wisest thing to do right now. Let’s stay in the middle instead, let’s listen to and appreciate the various stories that are emerging, and let’s together envision a future where greys are not squeezed for the sake of polarization.
Three opportunities for a new wave of social media.
Subscription based – As they say, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Social media is no exception. For years, we have thought it was free (or very cheap, if you are an advertiser), but the costs we have all been paying are actually higher than most can appreciate. Asking the audience to pay a subscription fee would force social media to actually narrow their scope and become niche products that need to innovate to thrive.
Verified identity – The past few years have proven that anonymity online is not going to work. Opening a social media account should not be as easy as getting a new e-mail address, and the part of audience that should not be allowed to use them (kids) need to be forbidden access right from the get go. People are not as toxic when their name and reputation is on the line, and that would go a great length to make social media a more pleasant arena.
No second guessing – Algorithms behind timelines and promoted content are hugely unsatisfactory for the audience. What if instead their task would be to ask? Interruption is always annoying, and banner blindness has been discussed and studied for at least twenty years now. Putting people back in charge of what they are offered (also in terms of ads) can only increase engagement and make for a better user experience.
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