Letting go of Ideology

This morning I woke up to a lively facebook thread.

My friend (and former business partner) who is a staple in the Athens music, arts, and spiritual community posted a meme triggering an astounding amount of interaction. The meme is a picture of a disgruntled will smith, smoking a cigarette with the caption: “When they go from force inject people with experimental inoculations to my body my choice in 2 months.”

The meme induced a hysteria of responses. Some people thought it was funny. Others were offended by the insensitivity of this post in conjunction with the democratic party leaking information that SCOTUS will overturn Roe v. Wade. 

This is a monumental announcement regarding the highly sensitive topic of abortion rights. Although - it is not set in stone and SCOTUS has yet to formally repeal this law, people are absolutely devastated by this prospect. In my feed, everyone is activated by this news.

Ensue:

Information Overload

Calls to Action

Insert Opinion Here

Divisive name calling

Info pics of Statistics

Projection of Victimhood 

Story Telling

Theoretical debates

Mass confusion

Comedic relief

Reaction - Judgment - Reaction

Really the full run of the gambit came out of this post.

Whenever there is a facebook uproar between my friends, I tend to sit back and observe. Of course, I have opinions that are relevant to the thread, I have opinions that will be applauded by some and burned by the stake by others. 

It is challenging for me to quickly create a middle ground in the virtual world of comment threads. 

I don’t want to be boxed into a corner, reduced to the eloquence of my political identity.  

I do not want to be pigeon-holed into a category or class of distinction. 

I will not tolerate judgment & reactionary behavior for more than is necessary.

Nor, do I really want to be spending my time staring at my screen for hours on end.

Thus, I witness and do not engage. 

Truth is I really did want to engage this post because I saw so many of loved ones on the thread.

What holds me back is that I do care what others think of me. 

I get blocked up in not wanting to offend...

I really don’t want to trigger someone and cause an explosive reaction in my ignorant bliss. 

I want to be perceived as Love.

I am also on a journey to exploring it means to be OPEN

I am aware that reactions are portals of emotion pouring out in the form of words 

Sometimes, empathy comes in the form of saying nothing

Perhaps, this care for what other people think leads me to self-censoring at times.

On the other hand, I think this seat of observance allows me more self-reflection and openness in conversations with my comrades.

We need to have spaces where we can talk, conversate, and prolong the socratic method. 

The virtual world creates a constant stream of information overload that leads to sensory fatigue.

Instantaneous controversy over politics is one of my issues with social media being the new arena for communication. 

And if you do not believe that these ideologies are being bought and sold to you, then we are really not operating from the same universe.

Manipulation of attention and time theft is my biggest qualm with facebook, instagram, twitter. I write now, from a place of constantly checking and rechecking the aforementioned threads. Wanting to see what the newest comment is. Content addiction is real y'all!! Our perspectives and mindset are being subtly curated by algorithms, marketing, consumeristic ploy, & authoritarian influence. 

That shit infuriates me to the nth degree and somehow - I still find myself using these bullshit technologies every damn day. My phone, computer, tablet are so well integrated into my daily life.

When I remove all my layers of self-protection, I ultimately do not fear what others think of me. 

Nothing in life is truly Free. 

I am not responsible for another’s consciousness.

It is not my duty to save the world with my heroic opinions. 

I do not take everything personally.

I do not avoid constructive criticism. 

I love entertaining a good, solid conversation that holds many energies, beliefs, and mindsets. 

How can you grow without feedback from others?

I speak up for myself. I am philosophical, curious, and affected by social expectations.

So this is why if I have something to say I put it on my blog, for you to find on your own time, in your own interest. 

From the post,  I also saw a few other people make their individual statements on their personal pages - claiming not to be in relation to the triggering meme post, but their sentiment and timing clearly indicates that it was likely inspired by the original post.

This again, awakened the little monster inside of me that wants to counter, to project, and ultimately wants my voice to be heard.

The little monster wants to perpetuate my ideologies into reality!

In my heart, I know language is sacred. I have reluctancy to flippantly stating my thoughts out into the ether. Language is the building block of society. The foundation of knowledge. Language is from where speech, intelligence, and innovation arise. Language expresses, implies, indicates, delineates, and defines - however it can never be the object or subject that it describes. We seem to constantly forget that our words are merely references of what “is.”

We can all recognize how useful language is to our function as civilized human beings. At what point does this obsession with categorization, analysis, and duality become harmful? Is it only harmful when applied to marginalized groups?

I think that answer is different for everyone.

I’d like to think that I practice tolerance as a way to avoid the harm of lumping people into categories.

People are in pursuit of life, liberty and happiness.

And why not?

We all deserve these basic rights. We have the right to exist. If freedom of expression is the ultimate right to fight for - what will be the cost?

Thanks for making it this far through my dissertation. As you can see, I have been dancing around the subject of abortion rights, vaccine mandates, and have yet to make any bold claims revealing where I stand on the spectrum of body autonomy. 

If you wanted to know, here’s where I stand: I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that the government is governing in any capacity other than protecting our pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. 

It is very plain to me, that the government is vividly in bed with corporate greed. Profit driven motives have led to deep civil imbalance.

We day to day live in a world, where too many humans will not be able to afford their pursuits. We are doing a horrific job of tending to the earth and its inhabitants.

I cannot shake this observance and therefore cannot pretend like I have any trust, faith, or rapport with such a controversial, unhelpful, tyrannical entity. 

Furthermore, I think it’s silly for friends to be arguing & reducing each other to what is said over facebook.

When in reality, I bet most people would give their shirt off their back for someone in need, vaccinated or not. Pro-Life/Pro-Choice or not. Left or Right.

The action of the individual is far more important than the words spewed forth in retort. We have to remember our True Nature, which is Love. We have to remember that generally people are decent. They want wellness, prosperity, and comfort. We have to remember our Universal Dharma of being good-natured.

We forget all too often.

It’s not our fault that we were born into such challenging times.

Coincidently at this time, there are also numerous Pfizer documents being leaked that reveal less than savory statistics about the efficacy of the vaccine.

I personally think we are being distracted from the larger picture, but I digress. 

Thank you for your attention, for being here, and being a witness to this crazy life!

I hope that you can go about your day with a little more focus towards kindness and letting go of the little stuff… and the big stuff too.  

Sincerely channeled from a place of having a lot to say,

Julie Bloom