“I’m tired, boss… Mostly, I’m tired of people being ugly to each other.”
― “The Green Mile,” Stephen King
Can you relate? If you still have a smidgen of decency left in your soul, I think you do. Maybe it’s always been this way, or maybe the ugliness has become more pervasive. It’s definitely gotten louder. There was a time, not too long ago, when being mean and contentious and belligerent got you a punch in the nose. Now the most vitriolic voices suck up everyone’s time and attention, even though the loudest voice in the room is rarely the wisest one.
At first it’s a little exhilarating, like hearing a juicy bit of gossip or the first time you said a real cuss word out loud when you were a kid. The thrill of being “on the edge” is exciting at first. Eventually it grates on the nerves.
What can we do about all this hyperbole and grievance? We can turn down the external and internal volume. Turn off the TV pundits and the talk radio, step away from the incessant posts and tweets and rants. Go talk to another human being, face to face, about something besides religion, politics, or your current conspiracy theory of choice (it’s entirely possible those are all one and the same, by the way). Have a conversation about your pets, your vacation, your garden, or the weather (not climate change, just current weather conditions). Set some conversational guardrails. What wouldn’t you discuss with a kindergartner? What subjects would you avoid sharing with your great-granny? Maybe don’t discuss those topics outside your small circle of trusted friends who love you enough to tell you, with kindness, when you’re crossing the line.
