Riddle me this: a person has a bad experience and that person either receives sympathy or condemnation for the bad experience. Two groups of people then duke it out to explain how ignorant the other is. Nothing is accomplished except denigrating others for the sake of being right. But what's the real issue here? Well, what if we are wrong? Then we wouldn't be perceived as perfect and as such might feel even worse.
I'm becoming increasingly disillusioned with social media and the need to rant and rave about every single thing going on in the world (world of course meaning United States and sometimes Canada or the UK, as I have a small social media interaction from other areas). We complain our lives away. This person isn't a good parent. That parent is failing. This group of people are idiots. This group of people are racists. While it is important to have public discourse on issues of safety and justice, it seems that a lot of what I see now is just hateful comments back and forth.
I do realize that I am now writing a blog about said complaining and ranting and raving. This is more to come outside of all these debates and remind everyone of something profoundly simple. WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES. No one, not one single person is without fault. We do the wrong things, say the wrong things, we get offended over things that are often ridiculous. We are humans. The most important thing we can gain from social media is learning how to accept each other despite our mistakes.
This is not a call to allow people to be treated poorly for the sake of keeping things calm. This is not a call to stop all complaining on Facebook or Twitter or whatever app you're using. This is not a call to ask people to step down from the great justice work that they are doing. This is a call for rationality.
We are not perfect. People are going to say and do the wrong things. A lot. People are going to disagree over politics, religion, and child rearing. A lot. People are going to fight for their rights and seek justice in this world. A lot. We must find a way to interact that is less toxic to ourselves and to others.
I found myself today on several occasions reading a status or a post and internalizing feelings because of them. The posts were most certainly not about me, but I felt I could relate to the person that the post was complaining about. I wonder how many times I have hurt someone without realizing it, just for my stance on an issue or the way I presented the people on the other side of a debate.
We must do better. We must work harder to think before we type. I say we, because I know that I'm guilty of this, too. Now, go outside and do something kind. Lift your spirit. Walk away from the keyboard and let something go that might otherwise make you so angry you could barely see. Just once, do that for me and think about how that feels. I hope it feels good.
