The Roaring Twenties baby!!!! Wasn’t that what we jokingly said back on January 1st? Have mercy on us all this year – between Covid-19, kids not being in schools, murder hornets for that one hot second, racial equity (finally) uprising, political conflicts…you get the point. Here’s the thing that’s truly bringing us down mentally though, and it’s not the aforementioned items – it’s Know-It-All-Culture.
About a year ago, I reflected on the notion that social media’s aggressive nature to be able to blast strangers from behind a screen, or over-exaggerate a vacation with filtered pics was changing us as humans. We couldn’t be real enough in-person.
Well, look at us now, swimming in our baby pools, eating those Pinterest meals from home instead of the $200 date night, drinking from the garden hose, and cutting our own hair, and we STILL aren’t humbled. Why? One reason: we refuse to admit, we may not have ALL the answers in life.
I don’t know about you, but I’m in need of a social media detox and a collective day-to-day pullback from the culture of everyone seeming to know everything – a feat that no one can actually possess.
The point here is to make a statement piece purporting that it’s not the “elements and events” that are breaking us mentally, it’s the neighbor poking by and mentioning that, “If you just add coffee grounds, your garden will grow better,’ And the mailman mentioning that we no longer need to wipe down our groceries, “According to a news story he saw,” Or a friend on Facebook posting the best way to clean undies in the sink, with no chemicals, while wearing an aluminum foil robe to stave off 5G.”It’s the only way to ensure a green solution to our chemical in-take!!!!” she says.
Is this really where we are in society? We think there is ONLY one way to live, and if it’s not OUR WAY, it’s the wrong way? I began noticing this trend when I started helping mothers bedside as a doula. One of the items I include in our initial consultation -that isn’t the typical interview inclusion – is literally, “Let’s discuss what types of myths and ideas your friends and relatives have told you about birth/labor/nursing…” You would not believe the crap that people shove down others’ throats as “facts” these days. And it’s loud. And it’s obnoxious. I live in disbelief at what some of these women have been made to feel is likely to happen to them and their babies. Isn’t one of the best parts of life, a bit of trial and experimentation to reach our own conclusions and findings? Let me live! Let everyone live! We don’t need the rhetoric of the world all day, every single day!
The solution to this Know-It-All-Culture begins with ourselves. We’ve become a society that listens to influencers, so much so, that we buy the crap they sell us, with a smile. We hear facts on a Netflix show and gotta show those off on a comment feed because we feel smart when we “peacock” online. Step back from the comment feed, Brenda, step back now. Those 17 comments to-come are only going to fire you up and deplete your spirit.
And finally, it’s okay to tell your friends and relatives that while you, “Appreciate their advice, you would like to explore your own methods,” For any and all things. Say it. Say it in the mirror before the birthday party you are bound to feel yourself getting irritated at later, say it in the car to yourself to pep-talk your emotions. And of course, vary that phrase and make it pointed when a distant relative brings up racial opinions in a context that they themselves have no business trying to articulate (Ahem, you’re white, Uncle Jack, racism DOES exist, your world is not THE world, please sit down!).
Our mental health’s survival depends on the Movement to End Know-It-All Culture. It truly does depend on the movement to consider leaving social media on principal. I’ll be making posters and yard signs soon because…my opinion is fact, and I know it all, so I’d love to push all of my thoughts and feelings upon you. LOL
