Awareness is overrated.

Unpopular opinion: Staying up-to-date on the latest media and cultural events is not that helpful, and not that healthy.

^^Friendly reminder that if you hit the little red heart up there, it’s a small gesture that goes a long way in helping more people see this post — and it makes me super happy 😇❤️🙏🏻 *Also I would really value your comments on this one, as I know it might be a controversial topic and I truly invite conversation. Thanks!!

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While the Universe may be expanding, the world is shrinking. Things like social media, international trade, and more accessible travel options have made it easier for us to connect with people, ideas, and products from around the globe.

This is often viewed positively, as a contribution to our society. In many ways, it is. I benefit from it as much as anyone and I won’t argue against that.

However, there has been a cultural shift of expectation to know what is going on all around the globe, AND to think and act in certain ways regarding these global issues, in order to have a positive social identity (i.e. to be ‘a good person’). And this, I believe, is not beneficial.

Within this sociocultural situation, it’s become difficult to have nuanced conversations or question anything that has been determined to be the ‘right’ and ‘good’ way to think and feel about a topic. If you disagree with or don’t understand the perspectives of what has been deemed the superior moral narrative, you are immediately othered – a phenomenon known as ‘cancel culture.’ 

I believe that cancel culture is largely to blame for another current phenomenon known as ‘performative activism.’ If you haven’t heard this term before, performative activism is when someone publicly shows concern for an issue, yet takes no actions to effect substantial change or long-term commitment and advocacy for the issue. (The classic example is making a social media post or speaking up about a topic during the week when it’s in the news, and then doing nothing else and moving on with your life). 

The term ‘performative activism’ is often used in a judgmental way towards those who engage in it, implying that people are more concerned about their social status and looking good than the actual issue. But I have a lot of compassion for those who engage in performative activism because the societal narrative is pressuring this behavior. As a social media influencer myself, I can say that when something newsworthy (especially something political) is going on in the world, I often receive messages from people asking why I’m not posting or speaking up about it to ‘raise awareness’ with my platform. 

There is a social expectation and social pressure to show that you, too, are aware of what is happening in the world, and that you are taking the good/right/moral side. Whether on social media or in the ‘real world’, there is a social expectation for you to be aware of whatever dramas are playing out that the media has chosen to highlight at that point in time, and have an educated perspective on them.

So even as people make fun of and criticize performative activism, they also criticize those who don’t ‘perform’ how they think they should in regards to social and political issues.

As someone who cares deeply about morality and ethics & has a genuine desire to contribute positively to the world through my existence, this growing pressure to ‘be aware’ has hit me hard at times, and has led to a lot of inner inquiry and contemplation about what I believe and how I want to approach the situation. 

My (unfiltered) take? I don’t think media/cultural awareness is necessarily helpful, I don’t think it’s the moral high road, and I don’t think it’s healthy.

My background and academic training/research is in mental health, so based on that alone, let me just say: We’re not built to carry the weight of the world.

You have probably heard the idea that we have caveman (or cavewoman, or cavehuman) bodies existing in a modern world. For the most part, this is true! We still have many of the physiological underpinnings that reflect our natural, historical environment. In regards to today’s topic of conversation, we are built to live in small villages – our brains and bodies only have the capacity to pay attention to and care for a small community. 

The British anthropologist Robin Dunbar has estimated that we have the cognitive and emotional energy to be in a relationship with about 150 people. This number gets smaller if you are referencing the number of people with whom you can have an intimate relationship and give/receive support in a meaningful way (5-15 people), and this number grows if you are referencing the number of people whose faces you recognize but don’t have any relationship with, i.e. there is no emotional or mental energy output involved (1500 people).

I think we can - and should! - apply this same logic to our relationships with world issues. Our cognitive and emotional capacity can only hold so much! We’re meant to feel empathy for our close friends and family members because those are deep, personal relationships in our life. It makes sense that when you find out that your sister or best friend is going through a challenging situation, you feel it with them. You put your cognitive and emotional energy toward supporting them. This is natural and beautiful. Cultivating and nurturing relationships with other people is the most beautiful thing we do, actually, in my opinion.

But personal relationships are different from social issues across the globe. In a relationship, it’s a cyclic dynamic of two people co-creating together. There is give and take from both sides, and both sides benefit from the interactions. When you give to another person, the experience gives back to you. We are relational beings; we are definitely meant to care, to give, to receive, to support one another. Even when it is hard (as life is and will be, over and over again), it is ultimately benefiting your mental health to care about the people in your life.

When you put the same level of care towards a political issue or tragedy happening on the other side of the world and you hold the weight of that trauma for dozens, hundreds, or thousands of people that you don’t have a personal relationship with… your empathy does nothing to support the lives of those people *if you are not taking action to support the cause in some way* - AND it depletes your cognitive and emotional reserve for the people and issues that are happening in your personal life, where you actually have a major influence. 

In my work as a mental health coach, especially because I am an empathetic and highly sensitive being myself and therefore tend to attract similar people to work with me, I have seen this play out in many of my clients. They have big, open hearts that take in the world’s struggles, but it ultimately degrades their mental health over time. Feeling the pain of an indistinct group of people that you don’t know, while not having the ability to help or impact change in their situation, creates emotions of hopelessness and despair - which are not only unhelpful to the person feeling them (yourself), but also do nothing to help the people for whom you are feeling these emotions for.

I think this also contributes to the growing polarization and resulting ‘othering’ and disdain for people of differing opinions. When you live in a constant state of hopelessness and despair for situations that you feel you have no control over, it can lead to a negative perception of the world and humanity as a whole. This leads to LESS empathy – which is ironic and sad.

If you watch the news every day, you will likely be pulled into the drama narrative that the world is an ugly, unsafe place and that other people are heartless and can’t be trusted. This, too, is poor for the psyche and ends up making that story your reality because it is what you expect to see and determines how you act toward others, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Now, let me take this moment to say - this is a nuanced issue. So here are some other important points to add, to bring balance to the message here.

First of all, there is a lot of merit and beauty to the way we CAN connect with and help others across our shrinking world. When we take action in ways that the population in need wants from us, it’s amazing!! I support everyone in signing petitions, writing to their government officials, donating money to reputable organizations or individuals who are on the ground and can use it to support those in need, and all sorts of other ways of having true helpful influence (which is a subjective term, but you get the point).

Secondly, I don’t think it’s necessarily an unhelpful or ineffective thing to simply discuss ideas. Even if you don’t engage in real-world activism, there is still value in being part of the conversation. We live in a physical world, but that is manifested from the collective consciousness. When you shift perspectives, you ultimately shift reality, even if the timeline is long. If you truly understand and care about an issue, I’m in support of you talking about it!

Finally, I recognize that privilege is part of this conversation as well. I’m privileged to live in a safe neighborhood, in a safe town, in a safe country where I have abundant access to resources and the ability to meet my basic needs. I have the privilege to choose not to focus my mental and emotional energy on issues happening across the globe, whereas others are living in a traumatic hell of a situation. You might believe that having privilege such as mine puts you in a place of responsibility to help those who don’t have the same privilege, which I understand and validate (*as long as you are actually taking action that contributes to forward progression on the issue).

There is no single answer or truth to this issue (or any issue, ever); there’s not just one right way to navigate the woes of the world at large. Everyone needs to create their own personal balance with this and decide what feels like the right way to engage with the world. My goal here is not to tell you what to do, but simply to add this perspective to a conversation where I feel it is often not addressed.

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As always, thank you for reading. I appreciate you and I am grateful for your presence here.