Musings on Modern Interactions

I always have enjoyed photos on the sun rise. It's the perfect metaphor for light overcoming darkness, an embodiment of hope, and hope is something that we all desperately need in our lives sometimes. Hope that things will get better. Hope that we can overcome our obstacles. Hope that change will lift us out of our darkness.

It feels almost cliche to point this out, but it's true that every time we see the news, we watch television, we engage in social media - we are surrounded by negativity. In our mass consumption of these medias, we often let the dark tone and the weight of these messages influence our minds and our hearts. This often leads to a build-up of stress, animosity, and eve hatred, all to the point where we feel the need to expel this negativity or cave under it; so, we take our various forms of social media and expel those thoughts. Some do this in the name of expression. Some for the purpose of doing their part in the name of change or standing up to something. Some simply to vent and rid their mind temporarily of the weight of it all. It's all a cycle many have become accustomed to, and whether we actively engage or not, we all bare witness to the culture this is creating.

It's always been said that it's better to let your thoughts out than to hold them in, and this is 100% true. Holding on to stress, depression, and anger will only lead you on a path of personal self-destruction; however, I believe the intent was to always do this in a manner that coincides with encouragement and love. The idea was to take these things to a loved one, family member, friend, counselor, or someone we believed we could trust and the hope would be, in return, be given sound advice, encouragement, or in the very at least they could lend an ear in a way in which you know they cared and wanted to know/understand what you were feeling.

In a digital age, we have access to more people than we've ever had. We can have more theoretical friends, more peers, more conversations than we could have ever imagined; however, it often feels like we're more isolated as individuals than ever before. It feels like often we live in bubbles, and our conversations and relationships, while plentiful, have become shallow and lack the depth they once did. The authenticity of our interactions is leaving us, which leaves our ability to fully understand and appreciate each handicapped.

I certainly don't have the answers, as this is all just musings and things I think about as I observe the world around me. I say all this as someone who participates in this digital age of social media, in this new world of social interaction. Often when I think about these things my mind goes to "stay positive, be encouraging." That's the challenge I put to myself, and one in which we all can try. As I see the negativity across my horizon, I hold it in my heart that I must, that we must, be that hope that we can overcome and be the change that lifts the darkness.