THIS world's gone crazy
It's hard to believe
That tomorrow will be better than today
Believe it anyway...
The lyrics of this song caught my attention and sent me Googling for who sang and what the song title is.
It’s a Christian song sang by Martina McBride entitled “Anyway.”
It’s this year-long isolation that has made me more in tune with what really matters, and one thing I’m very sure... comments are just that.
After all, I’m no longer the editor-in-chief, I no longer need to know what’s going on in the whole world and what’s being said by this and that person, most especially those whose opinions I really do not care about. The social media just made snarky people accessible. It’s up to us to filter them out of our individual realms.
Thus, whenever I see something that riles me, one of the things I’d ask myself is, “Would I even...?”
Something like, when someone posts a rabid comment on something, I’d ask: Before social media, would I even subject myself to listen to or read this?
If I answer no, then I just click on the unfollow button or turn off notification. That removes him from my sphere. Because before social media, when interaction was face to face and letters always started with “Dear” and ends with “Sincerely” or “Thank you”, I would just turn around and leave or throw the unwanted letter into the trashbin to be forgotten forever. No rancor.
Or if a former colleague chooses to make a negative opinion about everything that’s happening in the world every day, I’d ask, “Had we been working together, would I even allow her bitterness to darken my mood?” No? Unfollow.
In a talk with former SunStar editor Kriztja Marae for her podcast “Breaking the Shell” in Spotify, we briefly tackled the aggravations caused by social media and I pointed out the same. That when faced with such abrasive views, I just imagine myself before social media came to be.
Before social media, I told Kriztja, “These are people I don’t really know, or these are people whom I may know but do not know really what they are saying dahil taga-Maynila, taga-ano, they are not within my close circle of friends, so, why should I bother my emotions over their arguments na ayaw ko?” For indeed, why should I?
Worse are those picking up fights against people they do not even know. I admit, I was once like them until enlightenment came that these people do not matter. Now it’s clear to me that these comments and posts on social media are temporary (and unnecessary) distractions and aggravations. I’d rather keep myself posted on when it’s my turn to line up for Covid vaccination and how because for me, that is what matters most today. It’s inconsequential if the President chooses to hit golfballs at night.
As the song goes:
This world's gone crazy
It's hard to believe
That tomorrow will be better than today
Believe it anyway...
saestremera@gmail.com