I’m Swelling Dude…
…with I don’t know - a really good feeling. Pride, maybe?
It’s almost 4am and I can’t sleep again. So I’m on facebook browsing the latest updates and I absolutely love what I see. Let me give you a sample:
Random status update.
Some fun pictures.
Random status update.
BAM - a clip from NPR about someone making a positive impact in the world.
Random status update.
Plans for the weekend.
The Bulls lost.
BAM - an olddddd school clip from Sesame Street teaching positive self-worth to kindergardeners.
Music people like.
Someone reaching out for some encouragement and 24 replies giving it.
BAM - an AMAZING mashup of songs that a.) just sounds awesome and b.) creates such an incredibly positive message about believing in miracles.
I cannot tell you what scrolling down the newsfeed does for me when I see stuff like this. I know that a lot of people have their gripes with facebook and I know that I am potentially guilty of turning low key and fun social networking into a nerdy example, but let me just say that I feel pretty happy associating myself with my fellow humans (or maybe its just my very own supercoolgroupoffriends) right this second.
In a world where the news will have you believe positivity died alongside the wooly mammoth, where we’re taught that the papers are full of trainwrecks and gossip because that’s the only way they’ll sell, where we convince ourselves that human nature is inherently individualistic and selfish, where we focus far too much on complaints…
…it is wonderfully refreshing to see 1.) that there is real, live GOOD in this world, and 2.) that it is important enough to people to share it with their friends.
And it doesn’t even have to be just about super-positive, grass roots style movements. Even the exchange of music, funny youtube clips, baby pictures, wall well-wishers, issues that matter around the world… there’s a positive energy that stems from a positive intent - a desire to share something that we CARE about with world - with our world, that we are taking ownership of. It’s an alternative to watching a pre-filtered set of news stories that someone else tells us we should care about.
No thanks, NBC Nightly News.
And I think that’s what I love the most about facebook, youtube or any other publicly-controlled forum - THIS is freedom of speech, of thought, of expression.
Rock on friends, your peppering of positivity makes this lifetime feel hopeful. And that is precious.
