Put The Pitchforks Down

I’ll be the first to admit it: I’m a social media addict.

There was a really nice break a few years ago when I got sick and needed to separate myself from any negative anything for a few months. The only time I was online was to put content out, not take it in. That year revealed so much to me. It showed me my true essence, and I found a new energy and desire to work towards my life purpose.

Remembering that time now is like seeing photos of yourself when you were hitting the gym 3 times a week and now for whatever reason you are not.

Sure, I’ve beaten down all signs of my cancer (twice) but going back to the continual scrolling is something that happened so fast. It was a relapse that started with posting a photo album of my birthday event that just spiraled out of control. I tell myself it’s ok because I dutifully unfollow or mute anyone posting negative anything, but a lot of drama can’t help but slip in there on the daily. Horrible news stories that my friends want to share to encourage comment debates and everyone chiming in with their contempt and so forth. It makes me so sad for many reasons but mostly a.) because of how much time people are taking to contribute to a society of fear and hate and b.) that’s time spent away from developing their own talents and c.) because I can’t tear my eyes away either.

The racial debates locally are the hardest because even though I’ve lived on Oahu for over fifteen years and have no plans to leave, I will always be haole. While there’s so SO many haloe people out there acting a fool, doing or saying something ignorant or hateful, the rate at which everyone so quickly jumps in to cyber-attack throwing around hate speech has me cowering behind my laptop. One wrong person is one thing, but do you really want to meet hate with hate? How does that make you feel to put those words out there? Relieved? Could it be true that if someone “deserves” that sort of treatment that they will be dealt with in life’s process of karma, that we don’t need to interfere with their impending doom?

Please show me a situation where hate has resolved any wrongdoing. Show me a hate mongering article or post that has had a positive impact. These situations need to be met with compassion and love. However hard that is.
My suggestion: if you see something messed up, don’t give it the satisfaction of sharing. Kill it right there. Delete it. Unfollow it. Hide it. I’m sure many will not understand my point of view or think that I’m living in an unrealistic sort of bubble mentality but you know what? I’m alive. I wasn’t supposed to be but I am. It took a lot of hard work and a lot of mind-body connection and you know what’s there at the core? Love. It’s all love.

Try, just TRY, to spend a day or even a week not giving in to the hateful posts. Try to stop feeding into the clickbait trash that’s trying to murder our humanity. Sharing this garbage is what’s taking us all down. Think before you post. It’s something I’ve been saying for over a decade, but now more than ever we need to find the positive in our lives and focus on that.