Are you seen?
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- Опубликовано: 11 сен 2024
- Sorry I've been away, I have a new job and it's very fun but very grown up and tiring. Here's some thoughts in response to Tessa's video, which you can view here:
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Pssst I'm also uploading most of my videos to facebook, so if you find that a better place to be go ahead and use that route: / justkissmyfrog
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Who am I watching?
Hi - my name is Leena! I make videos about my life, I review books and talk about ideas I have (or ones I've heard about and have mis-remembered as my own) - expect travel vlogs, poetry, booktube debacle, author interviews and discussion nonsense.
Can we send you books for review?
Sure, just send a press release to leenanorms@gmail.com and I'll always take a look at let you know if I'm interested. I don't accept unsolicited books for review or self-published books.
Until recently on RUclips, I didn't comment. I would like videos of people who I wanted to support, but as far as my perception of myself as a viewer, I guess I felt more like a consumer - that's a good word for it really. But in recent weeks I've been watching a lot of videos focusing on community and empathy and relationships and RUclips from the perspective of creators, and I've begun commenting a lot more. I guess I never really realised my voice could matter on this platform, and I thought that I was somehow an outsider looking into a community of the RUclipsrs and the "you guys" they're always talking about it.
But then again, I'm a fairly private person in a lot of ways, and privacy is something that seems very undervalued in social media, so there's that side of it too.
As for news, it's such a hard thing to figure out how much our brains can even handle hearing about, and how to manage the guilt of not having the capacity to mourn every loss in the world, and how there's probably a point at which just talking about the news over and over again and calling it 'raising awareness' is actually keeping us from doing anything to make positive change. Honestly I really don't entirely know, and I love that you're so open about that fact that you don't either. But your videos are always so thoughtful in a really unique and creative and challenging way. Thank you. xx
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I was really deep in these kinds of thoughts a few months ago. I live in Lebanon, a place that's not as devastated and torn as Syria and Iraq are for instance, but also a place that's geographically close enough and politically involved enough to frequently be on the receiving end of attacks and bombs, and for me to lose friends in the process. We've had a lot of loss and destruction and an overwhelming fear of being next in line. And i remember being so angry when there would be an attack here and in Paris in the same week, and all the trending hashtags would be PrayForFrance. I felt invisible as you say. I still do. When the whole world pauses for Nice or Orlando, I pause with them, but it stings a little when they mention us in passing. It's sad to see someone like Christina go, maybe what she will leave behind is a reminder to always award others the importance and attention that we'd like to be awarded with.
sorry for the huge rant ^^ felt compelled to share some thoughts. Have a great day xx
I'm glad you shared this comment. I live in the U.S., and it's really been bothering me about how differently we react when something terrible happens here or in another wealthy western country, than if the same thing happens elsewhere. I feel like it makes it seem like we don't care about the rest of the world, just our political allies. But there is shitty stuff happening worldwide that just gets so much less media attention, it doesn't flood my news feed like it should. But maybe that is where I need to do something. Perhaps it's job of me, and other people who feel this way to try and make sure everyone is seen. I know I am often guilty of just watching. Thanks for giving me things to think about.
thank you as well for saying that. Maybe it's because there is so much violence everyday in the third world that it's become somehow normalized. I'm not sure this is the right word. But it's like gun violence in the US, a problem that has gone on for so long and with every incident people tragically get used to it, talk about it a bit less because it's so big of a burden to carry, and people become numbers. Like leena said, it is sometimes mentally exhausting to keep up with so much tragedy knowing that maybe there isn't much you can do about it...
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I do feel invisible in my life, both online and IRL, a lot of the time. Now that I think about it, the fact that I feel invisible online feels more significant somehow. The internet's presented as a place of freedom and creativity, a place where you can be seen by millions and heard all over the world. I'm active online. I comment on RUclips videos, post on forums, write book reviews on Goodreads, make GIFs for Tumblr, and 99 times out of 100, nothing comes from it. Things go by unseen, and I'm just another voice, yelling into the vastness of the Internet.
This may sound silly, but it gets kind of lonely, or like... I don't really have any friends IRL either, and I can't seem to make myself seen wherever I go? I'm not quite sure how to make myself seen. (that sounds a lot more dramatic than I want it to be, and this has turned into a word-vomit sort of comment, sorry!)
*also, the news makes me very sad recently, and I had a moment of just wanting to not look for it any more, but... Like, people keep saying how they want 2016 to be over with, or to skip the year, or forget it... but that's so disrespectful to those who have suffered, and that we've lost this year. I'd rather be sad and aware instead of ignorant and just carrying on like normal.
Relate to a lot of this. I feel invisible a lot of the time but it tends to be online more than in real life. Not that I'm any more visible in real life, but more aware of my invisibility online.
As for the news, I'm really struggling with it at the moment. I'm normally very conscious of social issues and world news, but I finding it difficult to cope with it right now with the constant stream of awful events. It's something I discussed in a video I made but the general conclusion I came to was that I can't just allow myself to be ignorant to what's going on or else I become part of the problem. And I love the notion of identifying why things are happening as opposed to just observing them at a surface level x Great video
gahhhh your description of crossing over from feeling invisible to feeling TOO seen...this rang unbelievably true. it's an eternal balance.
I recently have felt that the bombardment of *SEEING* all the news forcefully splashed before my eyes 24/7 was having a negative effect not just on like, my mental health, but also the way I perceived the news itself. I actually downloaded a google chrome extension to block the facebook trending news thing because I started to notice that it becomes so much harder to feel what you need to feel in response to all of this news when completely disillusioned and confused and bombarded by everything that wants to be SEEN all at once. lots of ideas here. lots to think about. thanks for this conversation
RUclips makes me feel a bit invisible. Kind of like a creepy stranger living vicariously through other - more sorted - people. I need videos like this, videos that make me feel SEEN. That make me think about stuff and scribble notes in my notebook and change my perspective somewhat.
You're so right. And I'm so glad you made this.
I think being a viewer and a consumer is fine, and often beneficial, but it needs to be balanced with living/doing/experiencing IRL. Like you say, we are all human beings with worth and important ideas and things to say.
xx
I think what you've said about the balancing act between being viewed and being invisible is very important and it's something I will now always keep in mind.
I would say there is more power in visibility. I cannot articulate why I think that but, I just do... I guess if I were a more visible creator right now, people would be demanding a justification so - idk, how powerful can someone feel with millions of people judging them everyday? It'd certainly shrink my confidence to a pea.
Anyway, every person deserves the right to the balance of invisibility and acknowledgement; there should be a control had by all.
The voiceless often aren't actually voiceless, people just dub over their truth time and again. I guess I feel like the seen people have more options in dealing with their situation and 'invisible' people don't. Christina dealt with her situation superbly and that's because she knew the important of finding a balance.
I fear I have babbled, I'm sorry
I love the way your mind works... not only do you have gorgeous thoughts but you articulate them so well.❤️
I agree with so much that you said in this video, and I feel so strange about feeling "seen". A lot of the time I don't feel seen because I'm a bisexual woc and there's not a lot of representation anywhere for that, but I also feel like I shouldn't bring it up because others may think I'm wanting to be "too seen" just by mentioning it (when really it'd just be nice to see people like me). Of course, this happens for many people in many different sections of society and it's annoying and weird and so confusing to try to explain to others who don't experience those kind of issues. So there's the weird notion of not feeling seen by not being represented; by feeling like an audience member on RUclips, when watching the news, or by just not being popular online; I find the whole thing really interesting & also sort of heartbreaking because people end up feeling almost futile. I won't go into it more bc it'd take ages, but I think this is a great video for discussion of the 'invisible'.
As a disabled person in society, I currently feel unseen and undervalued. After the Mass killing of disabled people in Tsukui has gone unreported throughout the able-bodied world. One, the shock of the killing and the horror of even more death. And then 2, the feeling that somehow, to the rest of the world their lives didn't matter. Their/we're not news worthy. As a comunity or part of society, we are hidden from view. The person responsible said 'their just disabled, their lives aren't worth living' and by the world not reporting it, kinda makes that confirmed in the phscy.
Not to argue with you at all, but I thought that there was plenty of news coverage of the story, especially as such massacres are so rare in Japan. It was highly shocking and reported accordingly, the people being disabled didn't take away from the horror but added to it and the warped view of the attacker doesn't reflect everyone else's thoughts. Far from.
I absolutely love what you said about the crossover of the viewer and the artist, and the ability of people who feel too seen to help make people who don't feel seen at all a little bit more visible. It feels like the world is in such a mess at the moment, and that was such a nicely phrased, hopeful thought. x
In a hilariously ironic sentence that's going to sound like 'VIEW ME', my previous two videos have been on this subject; it's been on my mind a lot recently. I don't know if you saw the photos coming out of Aleppo of children holding Pokemon pictures up to cameras, and signs saying 'Attention, Residents of Mars,' as they think they're more likely to get help from there than elsewhere... but. Yeah. xxxx
this is beautifully articulated - I completely agree: spectacle is so valuable today, in all aspects of people's lives I think, but so is 'expection', like there might be a spectacular tragic event, yet it's report on the news it once again one of now ubiquitous narratives of terror. Our reactions are often the same, sadness directed outwards, lack of action, and moving on. But were things to be truly exceptional - if reporting were different and more representative of specificities, maybe that cycle of normality would be broken and consciousness would increase. Maybe that didn't make a lot of sense, it's early
I don't think I struggle so much with feeling invisible or over-exposed, but with a feeling of responsibility to see, to hear, and to witness. I'm a Christian in Australia, and am involved with the refugee community, so what I struggle most with is that feeling that I need to know what is happening, that I have some responsibility to witness and testify to these people's stories and suffering. And the guilt I feel when I don't know or haven't caught up on the latest news.
But in that I think that one of the things that helps most is taking time to step back, to talk to the people I know who also work with, support and witness these people, and share our grief and anger. And to support each other in maintaining hope, and encouragement.
Very interesting thoughts. Thank you for uploading this video!
I could completely relate to you not wanting to watch the news about all these tragedies happening everywhere. For me, when I hear about a shooting, I like to take a moment and try to think about the victims, who were killed or injured or terribly scared or lost someone important to them. Although I'm not even close to able to feel their pain, I try to think about how all these people have/had a life of their own, hobbies, families, friends, a job, an so on. I really want to take one moment to hurt for all of them as much as I can, because I want to mourn all these deaths and injuries and losses that are so easily only percepted as a number in the news, even if only for a few minutes.
But with how much the tragedies have been accumulating on the news lately, I feel it's too overwhelming to do that. I can't handle mourning for all these people I've never known, because it's just too much. And because of that I feel like there's no proper way for me to react to all these bad news. I've become almost apathetic, because it feels like there's not much to do other than saying "Another shooting? That's terrible" and move on. And because I don't want to react like that, I don't even want to watch the news, because I don't want to be that ignorant.
That's why I really liked your point about thinking about the shooter as well. Often, it's simply a "mental illness", or "violent games", or "just another insane terrorist" and that's that. I never really thought about that all these people actually had a life of their own aswell. And most of them tried to do good. And it's hard to imagine how lost and mistreated someone has to feel to take a gun and shoot other people. I think, although what they have done is terrible and should not be forgiven, we should also try to hurt for those people. No one is born "evil", and no one is 100% evil. And, as you said, we should reflect on what we can do to never make people feel that way.
It's hard. (Of course it's hard.) As someone who struggles with depression which manifests particularly badly in feeling helpless about the state of the world, sometimes I just can't take any more news. I feel the feelings but I don't need to know the nth detail, because I can't cope with the details, and I can't help if I can't cope. I also feel a bit strange when people say attacks and the like are sad, and then stop there. Yes, it's fucking tragic and my heart sighs every time for people I never knew and families that are grieving, but it's not just 'sad'. It's important to mourn but it's also important to understand that it's not just a freak tragedy and there are things, little things, that we all can and should be doing, even if it's just changing our perspectives a little.
I read Amanda Palmer's book The Art of Asking (super recommend if you haven't already read it) and what she says on being seen struck me well. Paraphrasing - 'we don't always want to be looked at, we just want to be seen'. Like, understood and felt. I don't really like having a lot of eyes physically watching me but I definitely feel a visceral need to be seen and acknowledged.
Also, hope the new job is going well!
I really love your deep, thought-provoking videos. They make me think about things I don't tend to normally ponder...
This was a super interesting video. the progression of ideas was really thought-provoking.
What it started me thinking about was something i've been made suddenly aware of recently. i had to write an article on whether the media coverage of mass killings encourages more killers. It's a long and complicated topic, but in the course of writing it i came across these lists of terrorist attacks or us gun shootings and i realised how the media just misses out on so much of it. It links back to your point of people dying who were "worth" more. There were attacks were 400 people died in one go but i'd heard nothing because it was US or France or something.
The thing is there's so much that it's impossible to see everyone across the world. i think you've just got to concentrate on seeing and listening to what you can in the smallest way sometimes.
Yeah idk if that's that relevant to this video but it's what it made me think about. Great video!
I really love this (and so many of your other videos, I always find you incredibly thoughtful and thought provoking). I definitely feel a conflicting desire between visibility and anonymity - I often don't comment online almost for fear of being noticed, but also love when things I write are read and discussed. I perform for a living (I'm a musician) and again I am desperate to communicate in an honest and authentic way but terrified of the overexposure of performance, and of the potential consequences of that honesty.
In terms of the news, I really hate watching it on the TV or online videos as it feels passive and voyeuristic. I think that when I read or listen to news and analysis on the radio I listen and engage in a far more active way. I find listening to speech in particular incredibly powerful, but I think we are so desensitised to horrific images that, as you say in the video, we simply become consumers of that horror. I don't know if that makes any sense.
Like many commenters on this thread, I consider myself someone who watches, never contributes to conversations. I have been thinking lately of the damaging implications of this in terms of the underlying belief that what we say, our voices, don't matter. And I guess that's also linked to what you mentioned about feeling like such consumers and spectators of injustice and outrage in the world, but always without the relief of being able to do something about it. I think for me, feeling unseen also means feeling helpless.
The frustrating irony of that is that for me at least, having this frustration is sometimes easier than stepping out onto the vulnerable plane of feeling so SEEN. Like when you're on your period and you feel kind of bleh and you have to step outside to go somewhere - there's nothing that feels quite as raw as being confronted by people's eyes, giving your inner person the boundaries of your outline. Which sounds crazy, but at that moment, nothing feels quite as constricting - like you're not the limitless, shapeless blob of your mind, but suddenly you have to deal with the consequences of knowing that other people see you as something different. And for me, that is the downside of commenting, and of being present - the fear of being misunderstood, etc. Buuut I guess there are downsides to every perspective.
I hope that at least made some sense, this topic gives me the rambles :) Thank you for your thoughtful vids!
I think like everything you encounter in life, you have to be able to create a balance between being invisible and being visible.. Balance is so vital to everything
Leena, your videos always make me think, I value you for opening my my mind to ideas I'd never explored
Such an insightful vlog, not sure I have anything else to add. It's refreshing to hear some understanding about the lives of everyone in our society, even those voices we don't hear or may not want to hear. I might feel invisible at times but I'm trying hard to make my voice heard through my creative writing, and occasionally breaking through, so I feel positively about the direction I'm going in.
These are really interesting thoughts Leena. I think social media is making everyone much more visible on varying scales, sadly for some (not the good guys) this visibility can be used badly. What I think you said in a previous video about the world being closer through this social visibility is a good thing and the world wide friendships (which I quoted you on, hope you don't mind, in a video I did on black lives matter). As much as we listen, hear, view, watch and commentate we also need some time to switch off and process too. We just have to do all we can to make people feel visible and seen and heard even if it's just one person. Great video. Hope my response makes sense.
(In)visibility, bearing after witness (trauma culture), passive consumption. (Those are just prompts for my own comment). I struggle to come up with cogent and nuanced responses to your videos because often you pull out my own thoughts and say them much more coherently than I ever could. Firstly, I think the concept of visibility has so many facets, I don't personally feel invisible as a viewer now that I am more self aware of the channels I choose to watch (channels that allow me to express myself in comments, on Twitter), when I was younger, being invisible was something I desired, but on a different note, now, as a femme lesbian I feel too invisible in that sense. I've done a bit of academic research on the concept of trauma culture and bearing after witness, so what you said about hearing something really resonated with me, as I believe it's the voices that need to come through these events, focussing on the viewing, I think, turns trauma into a cog in the consumer model?
watching Tessa's video made me think about this too. for me Christina's death was tragic mostly because of the good impact she was causing, her talent was just the fuel i guess.
i don't know if i feel invisible, but i do feel quite powerless when it comes to recent events. no hashtag could ever repair things but social media is the only way to show my empathy and actually reach the people that are suffering the most.
all i know is we should not live in fear.
I really like this video. Thanks for making it.
I think there are countless people that contribute and help people feel seen and never get recognition. Everyone can superhero cape another with attention and sometimes we think we have a to reach a certain point to be seen. Love your point that both are hard. How does someone seen only in a specific way be seen as themselves. TOTALLY a huge spectrum on that. Too much being seen for what we are not and then how we want to be seen almost feels invisible. The narrative we tell ourselves is often more powerful than the reality. How we look and give attention can really affect how we see the world.
I really like your brain. I appreciate how you show people different ways of thinking, thank you for these little videos that are just thought splurges, but very important ones all the same
An interesting take on being seen... I have a completely different understanding of what it means to be seen. I think that being seen is to be understood and valued, not for any deeds, but just for being. Being seen is essential for everyone, and if it's not present can lead to crippling self-doubt, inability to recognise oneself, and always trying to fit other people's expectations of what you should be. What you are describing, I would probably call being watched, or even being consumed... because effectively what is being seen is a product that people wish to partake in. Not trying to devalue the work/talent/ whatever, but people are watching and consuming for that talent, not for the person behind it. Being seen is to see the person behind the talent.
I listen to your reflections in my kitchen while making dinner like you're a radio and I discover so many other ways of thinking, thank you for opening minds
Kisses from France !
I feel like I've been saying this a lot lately, but you videos really make me think about things in a different way, and I love it
This was so powerful. As humans we inherently want to be seen and heard. Our opinions and values matter. We all just have to be better at listening.
Although I full heartedly agree with what you said, I think the fact we view life from a comfortable seat in the audience is not to do with ignorance, but it serves as a form self defense. If I look at media through a certain lens I can almost forget how helpless we actually are in terms of fighting some injustices, and tragedies. I see people all the time, even in this comment feed, saying things like "stop liking posts as activism and DO something, make a difference." and while this sentiment is nice, it's not all together possible in situations like we've seen in 2016. Because of this we are merely spectators, or act as you have and choose very pointedly NOT to consume. (I have also guiltily done the same.) This is hollow of us, but it is also an act of self preservation. And I'm not sure I know another way..
1) I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS.
2) I feel personally invisible 99% of the time.
3) I agree with your views on the news and hearing rather than watching. Too many times this year we have had to call around Europe to see if are friends are safe, and they havent always made it. :(
"We watch, but we don't move." This is something that has been on my mind for a long time. I feel that this is what is happening to everyone of us all the time. We see these terrible things happening, but we aren't moving. At least i'm not. But then, what is the right way to move? It's confusing and terribly upsettin to me that i'm not sure what the right thing is to do. I believe these kinds of videos are extremely valuable because they make us think about this world we live in and the part we are playing in it. To answer your question: I feel almost always unseen, which is comfortable and scary at the same time.
Reeaaaaally going to make a video response to this because so many thoughts!!! Brilliant video Leena!
I think this is a really important discussion to be having. Like you, when I heard about the tragedy in Nice I completely avoided all news of it. It always makes me extremely uncomfortable in a way that has nothing to do with the subject matter (which of course is awfully sad) but with the way it is reported. The thing is, when you watch news programmes you are very often watching spectators. You watch people who were at the scene watching horrible things happen.
The fact that people take their phones out in attempts to film shaky videos of a man running over other human beings suggests something perverse: that when it comes to tragedy we have an instinct that other people not at the scene will want to watch what happened as if they were. Why? What makes people look at others being murdered and save the experience so that other people can look too? I think maybe the reason is that often the news is the only context we have for tragedies. Maybe people watching murders seek to contextualise them by actively being a spectator -- perhaps the only way they can make it make sense is to think of it in terms of a news story and record it accordingly. So often we watch people who were watchers themselves giving gruesome accounts of what happened. And somewhere it seems the watching becomes what is the most important thing rather than truly empathising.
I feel like this is relevant at least it's what you made me think on again and that is when we share and like political stuff/news events/tragedies on twitter or Facebook but that's where our interaction ends. It's almost worse, it's like all the crap is piling up and you know it's there and you're acknowledging it but perhaps it would be better to share less and do more - see less and hear more? Maybe? Also it helps me to know that I can talk about the stuff I 'see' with others - you know even though it's the same amount of stuff it's like it's more manageable when you're not alone. Ramble ramble ramble.
Thank you for making another great video ^_^ with lots of hearing!
I often feel like I don't view enough. However, it is a conscious decision. Over saturating myself with tragedy gives me a great deal of anxiety and I'm proud of myself for knowing my limits. However I'm also ashamed when I realize that I form my opinions solely off of headlines because that's all I allow myself to look at. Not trusting the media also plays a big role in deciding not to take part in the spectacle of our news system
I'm an African American female. As far as the media I consume, I feel very invisible. I rarely see myself reflected in stories and when I am, it is usually about pain and negativity. I tend to exist to make the white person feel better in the story. As someone who's asexual, I've never seen myself reflected. I've never read a story where a character has clearly identified as ace (Sherlock and Dr Who are speculation, never stated in the actual stories). For a long time I felt broken. If I don't exist in the stories I love, than can I exist in the real world.
As a person, I've been feeling like the news is The Hunger Games. It's feeling a spectator sport-one huge moment after another but no one sticks around to deal with the aftermath. The media has moved onto the next event. I'm not sure how to change that feeling.
I appreciate your videos so much, you have no idea.
And I do it too, I turn my back on things that are going on around the world and then feel terrible about it. I kept doing that fully until earlier this year when things started getting worse here and then the military coup happened (I'm from Turkey) and there are all these things going on so close to me, so close that I can't turn my head. What I realized is, it's so frustrating when you look at your twitter feed and all these people that you follow from other countries are just posting stuff about random things while the body count keeps rising where you are. And then you remember you did that too, and you had to. It's survival instinct right? You can't spend your life looking at that stuff all the time, you want to keep being able to function. I understand on an intellectual level people have to do that and I do that and you do that and everybody does that. Looking away is necessary for mental health, I think. Yes, it does make me feel invisible, but being from where I am I think I'll just have to live with it.
Great video... it depends on the story. If I am not involved and can't help, I like being "invisible" and watching to learn how others deal and cope with what's happening. If I can help, I like to as much as possible. And I've got better and better at knowing that my aid / assistance doesn't need to be public / credited because there's beauty in doing the thing for the love of wanting to help.
However, "being seen" is something I'd like more of. Every time I make a fan on tour or whatever I am humbled they're investing in me and take that with a lot of pride but also awareness of the responsibilities that it comes with. I don't want eyes on me for the sake of it.
A friend of mine had a Vine go viral recently. He said that it got him more hate than ever before... because loads of unappreciative people didn't want to watch it and had to. So I think being ignorant to some content (I really the MASSIVE difference between a terror attack and a vine fyi) is not a bad thing. As long as you're not proud in ignorance or are consuming the information in another way eg reading the article rather than watching the graphic clip.
Not sure if this made any sense. But yes. I saw Tessa's video and remember loving the way she described her thoughts on Christina's death. x
I tend to feel a bit like a hypocrite when I go from trying to draw attention to unseen tragedy on social media to being overwhelmed when there is too much tragedy to bear witness to. I had the same reaction to the most recent tragedy in France--I was so emotionally weary from everything that happened in the weeks before that, that I just looked away and didn't engage in discussion. I don't have any advice for balancing that, but I empathize with your experience.
I guess sometimes I feel "unseen" in a way online, because I consume a lot of RUclips media but don't make videos of my own anymore. I feel like I'm an invisible part of the RUclips community, because I've been watching the same people for years and I understand most of the cross-references (like the Tessa video you mentioned--I recently watched it and have been thinking about the same concept). It's a very personal form of media, but I don't have a personal relationship with the creators themselves. I'm not great about commenting, though, which I suppose is the way for the consumer to participate in the content. Trying to be better about that :)
Thanks for sharing. It's a lack of awareness by the status quo of these issues being exposed. Be it anything that isn't establishment or isn't whimsy.
I have this feeling of not wanting to keep up with news, what's happening in the world. I wanna put a cover over my head, headphones on my ears and live a life of my own away from everything, not being seen.
I think it's because news are draining me, they've never impacted me positively.
On TV they talk about the same things every year, from the interviews of people stuck in traffic between july and august to the customers who return unwanted presents to the store after christmas, it feels like we're swimming in circles.
I wonder what my life would be and what my vision on life would if I wasn't consuming news. you know ?
Recently I've been thinking about the purpose of caring about everything what was happening in the world. I'm only 15 and live in France. Like everyone else of my age I have social media. I can see all the horrible things happening in the world and how people react to it. They're sending prayors and thought, tweet about how sad they are and then do nothing. And as a fifteen-year-old I don't have the power to make a change. So why should I care ? To do like everyone else ? So a few days ago I've decided that I wouldn't care anymore I wouldn't watch the news or look for informations next time something happen. I'm going to enjoy my freedom before it's gone and I'm going to be happy as long as I can. Because I can't do anything and I don't want to be sad and powerless whereas I still can be happy.
Recently I've been thinking about the purpose of caring about everything what was happening in the world. I'm only 15 and live in France. Like everyone else of my age I have social media. I can see all the horrible things happening in the world and how people react to it. They're sending prayors and thought, tweet about how sad they are and then do nothing. And as a fifteen-year-old I don't have the power to make a change. So why should I care ? To do like everyone else ? So a few days ago I've decided that I wouldn't care anymore I wouldn't watch the news or look for informations next time something happen. I'm going to enjoy my freedom before it's gone and I'm going to be happy as long as I can. Because I can't do anything and I don't want to be sad and powerless whereas I still can be happy.
I know exactly what you mean
I feel you so much !! I also live in France ahah coucou. Je suis devenu tellement indiférente aux terrible choses que se passe, certe c'est horrible mais c'est devenu tellement habituel que ça me touche à peine. Je ne ressens plus grand chose... Comme tu dis, prier ne sert à rien car tu n'intéragie avec personne. C'est pas les dieux qui décident des actes et des vies de certaines personnes. Agir est plus concret mais il y a pas grand chose qu'on peut faire vraiment... Je crois que les gens ont du mal à accepter que les choses sont comme elles sont et qu'on y peut pas grand chose. Aussi, ça m'ennerve de voir la mobilisation que des tragédies on lieu dans un pays dévelopés et quand c'est un pays sous dévelopé il n'y a quasiment rien.
+bleuézia Ça me fait vraiment plaisir que quelqu'un pense comme moi ! Et quelle coïncidence que je réponde à une française parmi tout ces commentaires ! L'année dernière en regardant les infos sur Charlie Hebdo j'ai pleuré ça m'a vraiment touchee. Et puis il y a eu d'autres attentats et maintenant je ne ressens presque plus aucune tristesse. Au début je me sentais un peu coupable de réagir de cette façon surtout en voyant que les gens à la télé était encore tout aussi triste qu'au premier attentat. Je pensais que c'était pas "normal" peut-être. Et puis j'ai remarqué qu'en fait la plupart gens autour de moi (pas ceux de la télé) continuaient leur vies sans vraiment s'attarder sur ces problèmes. C'est à ce moment là que j'ai décidé d'arrêter de penser que je devais être triste. Je me suis aussi dit qu'il y avait tellement d'autres choses horribles dans notre monde que si on s'intéressait à toutes ces histoires, on ne s'arrêterait jamais de pleurer, sans jamais rien faire pour changer quoique ce soit, comme d'habitude. Plus tard dans ma vie j'aimerais vraiment pouvoir faire quelque chose et je pense que je le ferais (j'ai déjà des idées). Mais pour le moment je préfère profiter de ma liberté (Et puis j'ai que 15 ans aussi hein).
This isn't directly linked to your video, as you focus more on understanding and listening than on acting, but personally I would find it really useful and interesting to learn some ways I can *react* to the stories of the news I hear. Really, this is something I should be trying to do on my own regardless, however I think your advice on ways to actively respond to and counter problems within our society would be incredibly helpful, not to mention reaching many people via your platform. Therefore, if you can find the time and it takes your fancy, I would love to see a video on your views and advice on making a productive difference to our society. Thank you, and I loved the video!
Sometimes, as you mentioned with news feeds, I feel like I see too much. There's only so many tragedies I can look at before I kind of want to close my eyes and let them remain unseen, at least by me. Like being "too seen" but for the viewer
I feel like I am constantly consuming. It's either videos about other people's day-to-day activities (I don't know why I find this kind of voyeuristic activity so relaxing) or simply news bytes. It's like screens of other people's lives have taken precedence over my own life. It's easy to feel invisible in the wake of all that's happening in our world and I don't know if it's necessarily a terrible thing to step outside oneself on focus on others. The issue becomes when it's nearly impossible to turn that all seeing eye back on yourself...I don't know how to balance it. If you figure it out please do let us know.
I think I'd go crazy if I tried to keep up with and care about every horrible thing happening. I still care in a way, and try to stay reasonably informed and educated. But there's not much I can do in the grand scheme of things, so I take a few issues I really care about and divide my time on those. Like, I feel that can actively help individuals, so I tutor, go to schools and talk about LGBT discrimination and I'm a counsellor at a lifeline for teens. I can't do much about gun violence in the US or war and terrorism in Syria, so I focus on things I CAN do myself to help/educate individual others.
i am 24 years old, mixed race but usually identified as black and i've felt invisible for a great par tof my life as sad as it is. if it were not for books, words and then booktube and some other social media i would still feel invisible today.
Okay, first of all- YOUR FUCKING SHIRT YEEEEEEEEES
Also- I see you. I see the hell out of you, Bean.
This is very interesting (as per) and is making me do a think. Will discuss with u soon pls x
Just to add to what you said, I feel like this is what people with privilege (whatever that privilege may be) should do. They should use their privilege or as you put it, their shine to bring attention to the experiences of people who are not seen.
I just wish people could get off their lazy arses and take action instead of simply liking a posts, sending 140(?) caracter tweets or changing their profile picture to the flag of a nation in distress. YOU'RE NOT DOING ANYTHING. We are gradually becoming more segregated and it's fucking depressing. People only care about "us" and "our people".. where's our shared sense of responsibility for all of human kind? We won't progress unless we unite. Which is why I sometimes just feign deafness because I know that'll never happen. I hate to say it but I occasionally reach the point of almost not wanting to make an effiort because I know everything's just becoming worse by the day. It's sickening and depressing. I just feel lost.
I feel seen but not heard. I am a Latina women at a predominantly white university and I am seen. I am looked at when the conversation turns to immigration or minorities but only as an example against those issues. They refuse to listen to the fact that I am an exception in my life in various ways and that there continues to be a system working against my continuation into college. I hate it because they do not listen to everything that went into my pushes for visibility as a woman of color.
This is what I hate most about watch the news and various other things in pop culture is that too frequently it feels like they want chunks my story, or those of others, to forward narratives.
your so wise :)
I totally agree :))
this. Thank you; and "yes"
I'm Asian. So yes, all the time. Lovely video. x
You're my new favorite person. I don't know what else to say.
I love this leena