Stripping It All Away

My world has expanded with social media. I have friends that live around the world that I have never met in person due to social media. I also have friends that I only knew from social media but have now met in person.

I love being able to keep up with them as well as the people I only knew off line before social media came around. We’ve each experienced this. It also exposes so much in our lives. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

The good…the amazing things that happen in our lives. Weddings, anniversaries, new babies, new cars, better jobs, and so on.

The bad…the things that throw our lives into turmoil. Deaths, getting fired, car accidents, losing a home, and so on.

The ugly…the things that are downright mean. The election in the U.S. this year, racism, sexism, and so on.

Stripping it all away. We’ll never live in a perfect world. A world without the bad and the ugly. It’s just inherent in some. I do believe that those of us that don’t like the ugly though, can certainly stand up and make our voices louder. We can smile. We can make it a habit to stop talking crap. We can give back. No matter what good you are doing, you can always do more.

Stripping it all away. You cannot convince me that we are not all in this together. Sure, the media doesn’t share that narrative and we’ve each seen how ugly humanity can be. But, for every negative story we can find five good ones. There is more good than bad and ugly. We…WE…can help spread that instead of the ugly. We…WE…can help our fellow brothers and sisters when bad times come, which they surely will.

Stripping it all away. This is some corny shit. I get it, but I believe it. You and me, we’re not so different. We don’t need to be afraid of each other. We don’t need to be ugly. Focusing on the privilege of life is key. Remembering that neither of us will be here one day brings perspective. We each had a beginning and we each have an end. We share that. Let’s fill that middle part with as much hope and positivity as we can.