“If you want to know what you are thinking, look at your social media feed.”
Complicated algorithms have been put in place on social media platforms to analyze our activity and provide us with more of the same type of posts that we appear to like. This isn’t much different from how the Energy of the Universe works. Only, the Universe is far more sophisticated than human-designed computer programs. The original statement that was the inspiration for the quote I wrote above, goes like this, “If you want to know what you are thinking, look at your life.”
Each of us is the centrepiece of our own lives. We are the only constants in our individual tapestries of experience. It’s not that we MAKE things happen, exactly. (We didn’t make the sun rise today, nor our neighbour park their car in our way, for instance). It is how we respond to the events that unfold before us that creates our own lives, and affects the lives of others. Yes, I am going to tell you that how we respond is a choice, but I am also going to let you know that sometimes things aren't quite that simple.
We each have a complex set of deep-held ideas about who and what we think we are, and we pick and choose our responses in accordance with those beliefs. For instance, when I was a girl, my mother taught me that it would be my job to wash and iron my husband’s clothes, to prepare and cook meals, and to look after the kids. (Ya, I’m not kidding. I was so mad at her making me iron my brother’s shirts, that I would purposely heat permanent creases into them in all the wrong places. UGH!) There are so many unspoken rules conditioned into each and every one of us that we probably aren't even aware of them all. Yet, we all make choices in how we interact with them. In the case of my childhood ironing, I made a choice to rebel against my conditioning, and then my brother stopped asking me to iron his shirts - but my younger sister took over! (Ok, yes, it still pisses me off!)
The ironing example may seem silly to some people. If you were born after the ’60’s and didn't have a similar experience, try watching an episode of Mad Men in order to understand the repercussions a bit more. That series reminded me of my childhood so much that I couldn’t stomach one episode of it. Yes, my revulsion to the old ideas I was taught as a girl still affect my choices today. I have a knee-jerk reaction to those limiting notions. It often happens so fast that I don’t even notice it. The ironing is just one example. I know that you and I are no different. There are oh- so-many other examples of each of our 'stories' unfolding, even as we speak.
In the consciousness classes I teach, I ask the students to look at their lives in order to see what they like or don’t like, then to make a list of what they want to be different. Beside each desire, students are then asked to add why they believe they don’t have it. This was a great exercise 20 years ago. Now, though, when so many people find themselves falling 'down the rabbit hole into the dark abyss'; believing that they are victims in a world filled with tragedy, control and deception… whooo boy! Society used to be addicted to fairly benign things like noontime soap operas. Then, crafty psychologists were hired by news agencies to help develop a shift in content from relatively unadorned, factual reporting to more emotive and sensationalist formats. This, in order to attract more consumers and advertisers. Now, society is plugged into this “news” 24/7. (WTF!)
Still we are not a victims, here. You and I choose to turn media on or off. Yes, we are highly addictive creatures, but we are not victims of our addictions. Imagine a world where we all decided, “Ya, I’m kinda done with that BS. I think I will see if my neighbour wants to go for a walk.”
Some people think I don’t want to know what is going on, or that I have my 'head in the sand'. Again, my mother used to lecture me on the need for reading the newspaper, so that I would be aware of 'what was happening in the world'. Even then, in the 1970s, I noticed that news stories would start with all the drama, though. I didn't care about that. I just wanted to know how they ended. It seemed to me that I could never find the complete story, however. That was so frustrating to me. So, no, I don’t believe my head is in the sand. I think that when we pick up a paper or scroll through an online subscription, we are simply choosing to trust that the author is speaking the full truth. I now know that they aren’t. For instance, I was at Fairy Creek, and I know that the full scope of the actions happening there never made it to mainstream news.
When you look at your social media feed, all it is doing is letting you know what you have most often chosen to dial into. If you feel like you can’t put your devices down, but you are not happy with what you see on them, maybe you can start by unfollowing the things that aren’t actually contributing to making our world a better place. (While I have been sick on the couch for the last 5 days, I have been on Instagram more than I have in the last year, I am sure. I haven't missed it).
Even though my feed is filled with dancers like @urbantheory, motivational speakers such as the young kid @chefmaxcancook, or funky, strange creators like @hugohamlet, at about the 10 minute mark I find that I have had enough. I want to let my brain rest in the celebrations and possibilities of my real Life, and to live from there. I am getting better. I will be off my couch by the time you read this article. So, if you want to find me, I won’t be behind a screen. I will be out on the trails, living my life.
Wanna come along?