Let me start off by saying that I really enjoy writing for the Odyssey. I think it’s a great platform to get ideas out and thoughts into the world. It’s one of the only platforms that I have found that has comedy, and news, and ideas, and lists, and everything you can imagine all in one place. I fully support and believe in having a platform where any idea can be expressed (as long as there is no blatant hatred).
But I, and a couple other of my fellow content creators have noticed this funny little thing that seems to be happening. The way we get our content around is through people viewing and sharing our work. The trend seems to be that, the more lighthearted pieces get shared more than the pieces that have a bit more grit to them.
By nature, I understand why this is. We will always rather read something lighthearted, such as ‘A Letter To My Sister’ or ‘End Of The Semester As Told By…’ And I am not bashing on these pieces at all. I guess where my problem arises is when these articles are getting more shares than those like these ones. Articles and news stories that can cause change can make people wake up and see the world and hopefully fight to make it better have taken a back burner.
This isn’t a callout post. I often find myself skipping over reading some things because I don’t want to deal with the thoughts that would come out of it.
I believe this all comes from our fear of being uncomfortable. Think about it: everyone is trying to come up with new ways to make life even more convenient than it already is. Take the iPhone. It wasn’t enough for the world that it could do a ton of things, no, we needed to have Siri to make life easier so you wouldn’t have to type to look things up.
(Side note: I do realize that part of the reason that we have these things is to make life easier for those who could be physically impaired. For example, there is a theory going around the infomercials are actually advertizing products for the physically handicapped. And this is super great and amazing; I'm not saying it's not.)
We as a species don’t like to be in uncomfortable moments, physically OR emotionally. There are so many times where I haven’t said what I was thinking because it felt uncomfortable to me. This causes so many problems. Not only personally, but for the world.
In order to change the world, we need to stop being so afraid of being uncomfortable. We as a species need to accept the fact that life is difficult and weird and there are going to be incredibly uncomfortable moments when addressing all the issues of the world.
The trick is, even though it’s uncomfortable, to accept that fact, and then try to move on towards a solution with an open mind. Now, I do realize that it’s easier said than done. The physical sensation of being uncomfortable alone is enough to want to stay in a comfortable place for the rest of your life.
But without a certain amount of uncomfortableness, there will never be growth and we will never progress as a society if we do not grow.
