The Silence of the Roast Lamb

In a world where opinion is worth it’s weight in gold, and the only substance that remains lies without the on-screen pseudo-reality in the rarity of the masked face-to-face encounters of humanity, the online voices thunder with category-five forces into a mesh of contrived insanity.

Kicking things off with a resoundingly presumptuous run-on sentence is the only way I can reasonably begin. You see, I must first blend in before I strike.

Now is the era of faceless unaccountability. What is said on a keyboard does not threaten or restrict those who are nimble-fingered. There is no consequence or shame to bear. There is for better or worse, freedom to berate, to demean, to criticize, and to offer up what can only be uneducated and ill-advised emotionally charged discourse.

The Poet’s words “to thine own self be true” are indeed timeless, but they are often misunderstood or ignored. When our words and actions are different anonymously than they would be otherwise we are not being true to who we are.

When people gather physically, they are restricted in their speech by the concern that what they are saying might be hurtful or offensive, or they don’t want to draw attention to themselves, or they don’t want to be blamed for disturbing the peace and ruining the day. Online, those restrictions do not exist, and therefore critics and experts abound, innumerable as the grains of sand within the classroom fishbowl.

Many a restaurant critic have taken their grievances home to write scathing reviews in guttural yelps. Never mind that a problem might be remedied if it was brought to the attention of the underpaid restaurant staff.

In every feed, there is the wisdom of the narrow-minded political poster. Indeed, how could everyone not see the logic of this particular foreign policy stategy? It‘s so obvious! Cleverly, it is posted in the place like-minded people might echo the same sentiments and reinforce the already staggering ego.

One’s search will not be a long one for negativity. We might only need to look within, at our own attitudes and tendencies. Perhaps, before we correct someone, we should take a moment to be cognizant of the human condition and the futility of demanding perfection. Maybe, adding your opinion to the mix will not help the situation and some more research is required on your part. Heaven forbid we pause to realize that we can connect with others in better and more personal ways than through a screen.

Although 1970 has long since passed, the persistent whispers of Mother Mary still sing, ”Let it Be.” Let it go. Take a breath. Count to ten. The real world lies outside the spherical chamber of your mind.