On Hiding and Also Showing
"Wherever we go, we are friends" -Sloth and Manatee
Sloth and Manatee
There is a common wisdom that says, on any given day or week the one thing you do not ever, ever want to do is, to be the Main Character on the Internet.
As in, you do not want to be a meme. You do not want to be re-posted and commented and shared and mashed up and discussed. You do not want your awkward moment on the train platform or your meltdown over your sandwich order or your bad outfit or literally anything about you to become the Story.
There was a time (hear me out) when nothing of our day-to-day lives was preserved. Our walk home from school, or the time we broke our shoelace, or the winning soccer goal. It just – happened. I know, it’s weird. But everything did not roll up into a Something Somewhere. It was not Data.
At that time, though, there was still the Main Character problem. It took place on a different scale, say, in math class. Or at recess. Or at the grocery store. The scope of your role had much smaller boundaries. But it was still possible to have everything crash down on your head and it was still possible to have that experience stay with you for the rest of your life.
But this didn’t happen on a global scale. I wonder about these kids in memes they didn’t consent to, and where they are now. I think about stuff that I saw happen when I was a kid, goofy messy hilarious tragic stuff, and how if that had been on video and Tik-Tok-ed or whatever, how (much more) devastating that would have been to whoever it was had it been replayed for the rest of their life. Everywhere.
We all present a face that we fervently hope will be acceptable to ourselves, to our friends, to a situation, to the world. There’s a stage and a backstage. What you put on stage isn’t the same as what you’re storing behind the curtain or rehearsing or trying out. That’s okay.
All of your stuff, onstage and backstage, is okay. It’s up to you how you want to manage that. The trick, I think, is to make sure you get what you need - space, a break, humor, nature, whatever it is that makes you feel more like you. There are people who make you feel more like you. And places, too. There are intersections with the world that make sense to you and your brain and your way of operating. It can take a lot of work to find those. But put a little chair backstage, where you can sit and take a break for a minute. Maybe some tea and a good stuffed animal friend.
You should get to decide what you present and how, and where, and you should also get to decide who and what is worthy of your shining face.
Brainwaves
Best of Brainwaves Volume One: The Fountain of Stuff
Best of Brainwaves Volume Two: Mom, Dad, I'm a Cat
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Art!
Please enjoy this depiction of the Titanic that one of my students did in afterschool art. They were decorating their folders to keep their work in. He informed me that in his version the ship changes course at the last minute and everyone is saved. Probably because of that fellow yelling in the front there.
Also: KPop Demon Hunters. So good.
BunnyFrogCatSnake
Things Of The Week
Oh gosh, Jane Goodall is/was a hero of proportions people just don’t hardly ever reach. Here’s the National Geographic show on her.
Here’s another big hero of mine, Mr. Rogers, when he met Koko the gorilla.
Oh wow, a friend shared this about how multi-generational bird nests contain hundreds of years worth of stuff. Woa.
Okay! That's enough nonsense for now.
May you find something interesting in your nest, may you show what you want and hide what you want, won't you be my neighbor? - Betsy
HELLO AND THANKS FOR READING!!
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