There for a minute, the world-at-large and its illusion of doom almost forced me into a chrysalis. I was on my way to burrowing so far into my own safe space it would take pure magic to turn me into a butterfly. But, an ever-present voice inside me kept pushing, kept asking, kept believing.
If you’re relying on edited soundbites to stay informed, then no wonder you think we’re polarized as a nation. The loudest voices get mistaken for status quo when in reality, most of us do not exist in the extremes. As with all bell curves, the majority fall somewhere in the middle. In previous generations this was simply called “being a moderate,” but in recent years, the fact we exist on an ideological spectrum has largely been forgotten.
Once it dawned on me that most people continue to be moderate and we’re falling prey to the loudest voices, I felt better. I also recently read a statistic that a quarter to one half of what we see on social media is created by a bot in an attempt to keep us hooked in the mire and addicted to scrolling. The algorithms want us fighting, stewing, debating because it keeps us on our phones instead of living our lives joyfully. I’m certainly not allowing bots to disrupt my happiness.
The trick is it to not allow ourselves to slide into the matrix, into the web of lies and polarity. How do we do this? How do we resist?
We stay authentic.
We live in a way where our beliefs and our behaviors match. If we know we’re a good person, we behave like a good person. If we believe deeply about something, we let people know in a compassionate and honest way. A great example of authenticity is the way communities respond to a natural disaster. Think about how Western North Carolina showed up after HurricaneHelene. Political beliefs or opposing ideologies didn’t matter. That was authenticity in action. Imagine if we lived like that all of the time — if our main goal in life was to show up for our families and communities in a way where politics took a back burner to humanity.
I’ll admit, it’s tricky to be authentic when our leaders, the ones we look to for guidance, are inauthentic. When I hear our president and other political figures speak, it feels fake because their behaviors aren’t aligning with their words. It’s like when a parent tells a child, “Do as I say, not as I do.” This leadership style immediately triggers distrust and skepticism.
The magical aspect to authenticity is that it’s contagious. We all know people who light up a room, who arrive with such a genuine disposition, everyone feels lighter when they’re present. If more and more people could tap into that good energy, it would spread on a collective level until the tide began to turn. The problem is that fearful people work very hard to squelch positive energy because for them, it feels threatening.
We must tip the scale in the other direction. We can’t let the loud, fearful minority appear to be the majority because the rest of us are self-silencing. I know hiding in our cocoons feels safe, but if we want things to change in our country, we have to engage in authentic dialogue with people who believe similarly and those who don’t. Self-silencing doesn’t only mean staying quiet — it also means people pleasing and going along with those around us to keep the peace.
Let’s talk about being authentic on a micro-level. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.” We underestimate the power of small daily actions and habits that come from a place of goodness and compassion. Examples are checking on a neighbor, volunteering, reading and journaling in lieu of scrolling, cooking a meal and enjoying it with loved ones, picking up trash on the side of the road, offering to pay a field trip fee for a student who can’t afford it, loaning a cookbook to someone, sending a hand-written letter to a faraway friend, and so on and so forth. Any action that makes us feel like we’re elevating ourselves or bettering humanity is authentic.
If you want to help the world be a better place but don’t know what to do, come back to center. Do small things in a great way, smile at strangers, support those in your inner circle, engage in your communities and work hard not to judge others. Radiate love and good energy, trusting that by being authentic you are giving others permission to do the same. Most importantly, resist superficial media, be curious and cautious with all content, knowing the motive is to divide us, not unite us. Let’s be smarter and know that at the end of the day, we are so much better together.
(Susanna Shetley is writer and editor who lives in Haywood County. susanna.b@smokymountainnews.com.)