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We can be heroes
This is a difficult time—and just as our ancestors have experienced famine, war and disease, and other traumas, this is our ordeal that we are experiencing together.
I don't talk much about coronavirus. There's so much chat and speculation—what I know is that people and families are struggling, to say the least.
Just as in every classic hero's journey, in mythology, and films and stories, this is our ordeal. Our road of trials.
And, just like in our film and movies and stories, our lives also take an arc, they have chapters, and themes that run through our life.
These themes, ordeals and challenges—they can be hard. This is part of the human experience. It comes with being a human.
But it is these ordeals and challenges that expand us into a better version of ourselves, that help us evolve into a better species—it changes our biology…
This is a difficult time—and just as our ancestors have experienced famine, war and disease, and other traumas, this is our ordeal, that we are experiencing together.
I don't talk much about coronavirus. There's so much chat and speculation—what I know is that people and families are struggling, to say the least.
The hero’s journey
Just as in every classic hero's journey, in mythology, and films and stories, this is our ordeal. Our road of trials.
And, just like in our films, movies and stories, our lives also take an arc. They have chapters and themes that run through our life.
These themes, ordeals and challenges—they can be hard. This is part of the human experience. It comes with being a human.
It is these ordeals and challenges that expand us into a better version of ourselves, that help us evolve into a better species—it changes our biology.
However, these challenges can also be traumatic. They can bring on anxiety or other mental illnesses. Sometimes our challenges in life can be overwhelming, and inhibit us from moving forward.
At times like these we may benefit from leaning on others.
Around 65% of people who are experiencing mental illness do not reach out for help. And the longer we leave it, the harder it can be to move back into health and wellness.
Fortunately, today the topic of mental health is starting to become as ‘normal’ as physical health.
Resistance and your authentic state
Ok. Now, let's talk about Resistance.
Resistance is a force that tends to oppose things, we often resist our own growth and change, because then we are moving toward the unknown, like character entering darkness, metaphorically or literally.
Fear has served us for centuries, but life has changed. And our brains are a little slow in adapting to our environment.
But what we know is when it comes to doing the right thing, we need to feel the fear and do it anyway. To walk into the unknown.
We may need to have the courage to know that we may have to leave old ways, habits, and sometimes people behind for our greater good. We might have to say goodbye to a part of us we love or enjoy, but isn't good for us.
The reality is, the reason why we love these hero stories, is that they resonant with us
Hero stories touch a part of us from deep within our psyche.
And I believe the truth is: We all are supposed to be our own superhero.
How? Well just as the protagonist in a film, you have more tools, knowledge and support around you than you realise.
The first step is to accept the challenge, to start the journey.
The helpful key to start the journey is to listen to your inner voice, your conscience, and observe yourself.
What is the recurring problem or resistance that you face?
Is it a need for strength, restraint, to reach out, to be more loving or kind, to find simplicity or purpose? To be more disciplined?
Is it to honour your commitments? To honour yourself? Your partner? Your body's yearning for better health?
Don’t worry. The idea is to lean into your greatest self, take small steps.
Challenges are hard. This is why sometimes we resist them. And why sometimes it is a good ideas to reach out for a little support to get through that chapter.
The superhero, YOU, always have help available. This can be through a tool, a person, or knowledge. Support is here for you.
My current challenge is to step up, and show you, and the world, my face, my thoughts, my work, my skills. And that pushes my boundaries. But I'm prepared to do it, because the end goal, or my mission, to help people and businesses to thrive, is important.
So, it’s about priorities right? It's about stopping putting things off. Stop making excuses. And to just do it.
Let’s learn from those who have lived… and regretted not living
In an article by The Guardian in 2012 an Australian nurse who worked in palliative care `questioned the elderly about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, she said that "common themes surfaced again and again."
Number one was “I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me”.
Who can relate to that? Are you listening to your true calling? Are you listening to your inner voice?
The second most common regret was, “I wish I hadn't worked so hard.” That's about priorities and mindset right? How are your priorities? Money making Mindset? Are you working harder or smarter?
The third most common regret was, “I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.”
This is a little sad. Our culture doesn't seem to value expression of feeling -- many of us aren't taught (through role modelling or otherwise) how to express, or talk about or even feel our feelings.
The work I do at Authentic State helps people to express their feelings. And to heal their emotions. And I help people find the courage to live a life true to themselves.
What is your current challenge?
Now, my question for you is: What is your current personal theme OR challenge in your life?
What is the knowing or feeling inside you telling you that you are resisting?
How can you honour your inner knowing, and step up to a greater version of yourself?
Could you use a little help moving forward?
Remember, I'm here to support people like you to cross through challenging times. I have a bag of healing and coaching tools I can share with you.
Reference: The Guardian. 2012. Top Five Regrets Of The Dying. [online] Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/01/top-five-regrets-of-the-dying> [Accessed 25 October 2020].
Images: Hassan OUAJBIR and Brett Jordan
Authenticity, fact checking and false news
See these top tips for fact-checking:
Check for previous work: Look around to see if someone else has already fact-checked the claim or provided a synthesis of research.
Go “upstream” to the source of the claim. Most web content is not original. Get to the original source to understand the trustworthiness of the information.
Read laterally: Once you get to the source of a claim, read what other people say about the source (publication, author, etc.). The truth is in the network.
Circle back: If you get lost, hit dead ends, or find yourself going down an increasingly confusing rabbit hole, back up and start over knowing what you know now. You’re likely to take a more informed path with different search terms and better decisions.
image credit: visuals
For the first time, this week Twitter labeled a post by US President Trump with a fact-check label, linking to an article stating that the content was “unsubstantiated". This transparency of Twitter fact-checking has been on the roll-out for a few months.
Transparency is good. Thanks for the warning label Twitter.
But surely I’m not the only online user who is thinking this label is appropriate for quite a lot of social media content?
For me, this recent fake news warning points to the notion that with freedom of speech comes personal responsibility.
Unfortunately, we can’t trust that others are always responsible with their words, thoughts or actions. But we can try to be mindful of our own personal responsibility. And with that responsibility comes a big scoop of healthy skepticism and fact-checking.
No doubt we'll see more ‘how-to fact check’ guides online (like this ‘How to fact check guide’ below ).
Authenticity and censorship
The thing is, if we don’t use our own discretion to:
Research and weigh up a comment, post or article’s authenticity and trustworthiness
or
Recognise when opinion is represented as fact,
then we are at a great risk of resting far too heavily on our authorities; law, big business, government, to dictate to us on what is real, normal and acceptable.
Labels are helpful, but responsibility is essential. If we can’t trust that others are always responsible, then we have to take more responsibility into our own hands.
Consider this... We know Facebook continues to remove posts and other content that may “harm" users. Growing evidence tells us that “harmful” content to you and me, is not the only content we are censored from.
Just this morning a Facebook post was removed from the account of a trusted source of mine. This person had shared a friend's post containing their pictures taken of police violence and human right violation in Hong Kong.
Also, after being found out, apparently YouTube has been “accidentally” deleting comments that criticise the Communist Party of China.
Why was this content censored? Who is this censorship protecting? And why?
Censorship is supposed to protect us, the people, right?
But as Noam Chomsky says “You look at the media, or at any institution you want to understand. ... You want to know something about their setting in the broader society. How do they relate to other systems of power and authority?” If the great Noam is correct, then the answer to these questions are eye-widening and disconcerting.
image credit: Keenan Constance
I’ve recently also noticed that my online search results are really bad, wrong even.
Today, unlike this time last year, it’s harder to find reputable information sources from universities and independent organisations (even when including .edu or .org in keyword search terms and using other search tips).
At time of writing this, my search results are more commonly media websites and social platforms.
So it seems that annoyingly, online search algorithms are click-baiting and time-wasting me into their websites, for me only to find no substantial content related to the actual keyword search term.
Seems I'm not alone; SEO roundtable reported yesterday that 3,000 people commented/complained about Google on a popular forum (see ‘Google's May 2020 Core Update Mess Up Google's Search Results?) Hopefully search platforms will listen to it’s ‘customers’ and remedy this. Alternatively, in the future, will people gravitate more towards the ‘dark web’?
Oh, and ‘deep fakes’ are on the rise. This month Forbes reported ‘at the beginning of 2019 there were 7,964 deep fake videos online’, and we are at risk of ‘“reality apathy”: It’s too much effort to figure out what’s real and what’s not, so you’re more willing to just go with whatever your previous affiliations are’.
What does it all mean?
So what does all this mean to you and me?
We must not take authenticity for granted. Nor our freedom of speech.
We are all responsible for seeking out ‘truths’, sharing trustworthy tools and information with each other, so we can have trusted information from people we trust.
Responsibility is synonymous with adulthood. We are all responsible for speaking up for ourselves, each other and the future generations.
The big social media platforms are not twenty years old yet. As they move through their teenage years, it appears they are still figuring out who they are, and the rules they want to play by. Remember, we are all on social media because ‘everyone’ else is on these platforms. Without our presence on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter etc these platforms wouldn't exist. Business follows the customer. You really have more power that you realise, online and elsewhere.
On a final note, as digital literacy educator, Michael Caulfield says “the web is both the largest propaganda machine ever created and the most amazing fact-checking tool ever invented”.
image credit: united nations
How to fact check
See these top tips for fact-checking (courtesy of Caulfield):
Check for previous work: Look around to see if someone else has already fact-checked the claim or provided a synthesis of research.
Go “upstream” to the source of the claim. Most web content is not original. Get to the original source to understand the trustworthiness of the information.
Read laterally: Once you get to the source of a claim, read what other people say about the source (publication, author, etc.). The truth is in the network.
Circle back: If you get lost, hit dead ends, or find yourself going down an increasingly confusing rabbit hole, back up and start over knowing what you know now. You’re likely to take a more informed path with different search terms and better decisions.
In your search engine results (on Google, Internet Explorer, Safari, Mozilla, Duck Duck Go etc), scan the results and focus on the URLs and the blurbs to find the best result to click in the returned result set.
You can read Caulfeild’s full book on web literacy here (the material is available under Public License).
Fact checking websites
Sources:
Clark, B., 2018. Fact Or Fiction? Using The Web To Quickly Fact-Check Social Media Feeds | Washington State Magazine | Washington State University. [online] Magazine.wsu.edu. Available at: <https://magazine.wsu.edu/web-extra/fact-or-fiction-using-the-web-to-quickly-fact-check-social-media-feeds/> [Accessed 28 May 2020].
Caulfeild, M., 2019. Web Literacy For Student Fact Checkers. [online] Mikecaulfield.files.wordpress.com. Available at: <https://mikecaulfield.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/web-literacy-for-student-fact-checkers-1567184081.pdf> [Accessed 28 May 2020].
Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers by Michael A. Caulfield is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
Clark, B., 2020. Fact Or Fiction? Using The Web To Quickly Fact-Check Social Media Feeds | Washington State Magazine | Washington State University. [online] Magazine.wsu.edu. Available at: <https://magazine.wsu.edu/web-extra/fact-or-fiction-using-the-web-to-quickly-fact-check-social-media-feeds/> [Accessed 28 May 2020].
Chomsky, N., 1997. What Makes Mainstream Media Mainstream. [online] Chomsky.info. Available at: <https://chomsky.info/199710__/> [Accessed 28 May 2020].
Schwartz, B., 2020 26 May. Google's May 2020 Core Update Mess Up Google's Search Results?. [online] seroundtable.com. Available at: <https://www.seroundtable.com/google-may-2020-core-update-mess-up-29508.html> [Accessed 28 May 2020].
Toews, R., 2020 25 May. Deepfakes Are Going To Wreak Havoc On Society. We Are Not Prepared.. [online] Forbes. Available at: <https://www.forbes.com/sites/robtoews/2020/05/25/deepfakes-are-going-to-wreak-havoc-on-society-we-are-not-prepared/?fbclid=IwAR1QAqVX9fdMoblMeBW9hJVfP89nAZnhQjxTObgx8SqSYVCDv6ItVPMq_sg#4c66178c7494> [Accessed 28 May 2020].
Vincent, J., 2020. 26 May. Youtube Is Deleting Comments With Two Phrases That Insult China’S Communist Party. [online] The Verge. Available at: <https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/26/21270290/youtube-deleting-comments-censorship-chinese-communist-party-ccp> [Accessed 28 May 2020].