It took a little while to process the past few weeks and then a sudden wave of sadness washed over me. With everything going on in the world, Jason and I asked ourselves, "Why is there so much hate?" It's a rhetorical question of course, one that no one can answer. There just is.
It doesn't help that we're bombarded with images and information, some of it misinformed with a crowd of negative commentary. I recently came across this article, "What All This Bad News Is Doing to Us," and it resonated with me because I realized how hard it is to retain optimism after a day of social media fueled news. At the same time, it feels selfish to even wonder that when so many hardships are at hand.
The article states that "In addition to a burgeoning sense of helplessness, cognitive shortcuts triggered by the news can lead us to gradually see the world as a darker and darker place, chipping away at certain optimistic tendencies."
From the details of Robin William's death to the sad, personal stories coming from Humans of New York to the coverage of Ferguson...the world seems fragmented in so many ways. The other day, Jason asked me if I thought there was always this much hate and I said, "Of course! Look at Nazis..it's always been around, but social media has amplified it on a larger scale." We call the negativity trolling and say, "Don't feed the trolls," but it's part of a bigger picture as humanity.
So I guess I just wanted to say...try and be a little nicer to the people around you and on the internet. It's the small things that make a difference in someone's life and hopefully the idea of optimism can stay alive in the world.
I want to believe in magic, in optimism, happiness, humanity and Fleetwood Mac. In that order. Currently listening to "Songbird" and it's making me cry and have weird American Horror Story flashbacks.
