I stopped watching the news decades ago. Truthfully, I never really could stomach the content anyway. It seemed like an endless supply of dark gray clouds, advancing storms of violence, and swells of animosity always just on the horizon. To me, the news outlets seemed hellbent on consistently filling our heads and feeding our souls with hopeless tales of tragedy. I couldn’t stomach it. I know there was the occasional feel good moment. But those were fleeting and certainly did not seem to get the much needed viewings that good ole darkness and dreary could. Was this a responsible way to live? I don’t honestly know. But being a sensitive being, it was necessary for my own peace of mind. I don’t need the various news outlets telling me what is already apparent. I know that some animals hunt, kill, and eat their prey. That doesn’t mean I want to witness it first or second hand. Instead, I chose to process the world by existing in it. Feeling it. Living it.

Years went by. I was happy in my little bubble. I continued to avoid news. People would attempt to spoon feed it to me. I would attempt to change the subject as rapidly as I could. I knew what was going on. I didn’t need an anchor person or journalist to tell me. It was written all over the faces of the people I saw in public. It saddened me greatly. But, it wasn’t ALL the time. I did see some goodness. I needed to see the goodness. It was on a smaller scale than the ever growing darkness, but it was there. People holding doors, strangers smiling, nods of acknowledgment from a neighbor you only knew in passing. It wasn’t much, but it was there. It was called KINDNESS.

Now, here in current times, it isn’t as easy to avoid the negativity the news loves to propagate. While I can still avoid the local papers and the news channels, I find a more insidious entity is taking over. It is something less avoidable. It is something that is being fed by and fueled by, of all things, us. Sadly, we the public are the ones helping to perpetuate this monstrosity. The megalithic force of social media sites has grown. Like some weird, angry, negative, hate filled Megazord, they all seem to be joining forces to create one enormous platform of contempt. Please understand that I find the various social outlets useful, when used as intended. I enjoy being able to connect with my friends around the wold in a more instant type setting. I love that I can keep up with family that is spread out throughout the country. I even enjoy keeping up with my favorite health or nature based pages. But that use seems to be in the minority. Instead it now seems to be used to pass along tumultuous statements, misinformation, and bold face lies. Maybe this was their intended use all along? Maybe I use it incorrectly. I am really starting to wonder.

My biggest grievance with this aberration is not actually what is being leaked, pushed, or posted. To a certain extent, we can avoid a lot of it. What is hard to swallow and even more difficult to side step, is the blind faith people seem to have regarding the sharing of that information. Kindness is gone. Sadly we seem to be content and almost hellbent on sharing the most controversial, inflammatory, or hate driven statements we possibly can. When did we become a nation of strictly “blue” or “red”? Are we nothing more than me vs. thee? When did it become normal to forego compassion? We should be more than just a side of an issue. We should be more than a “right” or a “wrong”. Along our evolutionary technology path, did we give up our ability to be respectful in our interactions? Because it seems that not only do people want to push their side, they now actively seek out negative interactions in the name of fairness, justice, and equality. Confrontation, whether believed for just purposes or not, is still confrontation. No one responds well to that. It is unhealthy. It serves no real purpose. And it turns into an argument. Most of the time these occur with complete strangers. Why have we become so comfortable and content lashing out at people who we feel have unjustly accused or wronged us in some manner?I don’t see it happening in the stores and shopping centers. Does being behind a screen make us believe we are entitled to behave without regarding anyone else’s feelings? Because the thing is, even though we feel we have anonymity behind our gadget screens, we don’t. At the end of the day we are all still real people; human beings with feelings and families.

The truth is, it isn’t as easy as black or white, right or wrong. We are all entangled in various shades of gray. We are all [hopefully] trying to do the best that we can, given who we are in that moment. Just because I believe something is wrong for my life does not make it true for others. It is MY truth and mine alone. Your truth is yours, and yours alone. Shouting at each other does nothing but create more animosity; more negativity. While you may not agree with their thinking, telling them they are wrong does not make you more right. What needs to happen instead is bringing back conversation instead of confrontation. Try conversing with kindness and compassion. We should be allowed to have differing views. If we all agreed I think the world would be rather boring. Differences make the world go around. And I think they make it a better place- a place that encourages thinking. I don’t have to agree with someone to learn from them. I don’t have to like what they are saying to still be respectful and understanding. But maybe that’s the whole point of the division strategy? Maybe if we all just see each other as sides or points of view, instead of human beings, we aren’t actually utilizing our critical thinking skills. And maybe that, ultimately, works for the majority. Perhaps, instead of using these social outlets to become an amazingly cohesive unit of global interconnectedness, we are falling victim to (or are being lead to) a divide and conquer tactic. That just breaks this crystal grippin hippie’s heart.