Drops: I shall not be brief

We need a revolution, a big fat f*** you to brevity culture.

The strive for brevity and efficiency has taken over too many aspects of our life. The other day, a friend who is looking to buy a home told me that new houses don’t have baths anymore because “who has time to have baths anymore?”.

The chase for brevity occupies speeches, time with friends, time with the self, journalism, therapy, learning. It puts so much pressure on us and is focused on the anxiety that we will not have the attention we deserve.

Platforms like Medium, which were originally meant to rethink journalism, have become flooded with instructional articles on how to do something in the most efficient way. “5 things to improve x” “3 ways to be your best self”.

When speaking to people about social justice issues, I used to get stressed out about making my argument super-efficient to not lose the attention of the listener. I was looking at being efficient from an egoic perspective, to have attention. With the years I understood that what I needed to focus on was to have compassion for the listener, understand their context, and do it from a point of love. I also learned that if someone doesn’t want to listen, they won't.

Too many of us feel guilty for taking days off and resting. Burnout is off the charts. The new coping mechanism is doing.

We need a revolution, a big fat f*** you to brevity culture. A coup. Let’s shift the brevity narrative from a place of anxiety to one of love and care. Yes to baths, to content that counts and takes time to absorb, to walks in nature, resting days and anything that goes against being efficient all the effing time.

I shall not be brief.

Drops is a Waves column created by Virginia Vigliar, it showcases short reflections and knowledge sharing for you to water. If you need a quick break, want to be immersed in poeticism with purpose, then this is for you!

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