Soul of a Woman

Just like that…

In an effort to expand my audience, I posted a blog on a platform offered by the blog site.

The first post was received positively, until it was flagged and removed. They offered an “appeals” option and recommended that I review their “community guidelines,” which I did.

Well, as you can already assume, I had not violated their “community guidelines” and filed an appeal, which they quickly denied and removed all my posts.

I was shocked!

None of my content insights violence, public shaming, or violated any of their restrictions. Yet, they refused to remove the flag on my posts and ultimately shut me down.

I was stunned!

I am not Jimmy Kimmel, nor do I have that big of an audience on any one platform to feel or believe I have the power to indoctrinate an audience. My blogs are a collection of observations, reflections, and anecdotes.

It occurred to me that Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Opinion, and Freedom of Thought are being assaulted in the country. To the extent that an app can pull your content if it disagrees with your reflection or observation.

How do we learn, grow, teach, and engage if there is no give and take? How do we experience and experiment if we cannot sit with the opposite of who we are to create, invent, engage in a conversation?

Who do we become when we cannot connect in an opposing thought? We become robots. We become dystopian. We become the one thing I fear the most…

…Indifferent.

As I continue to write, blog, and share my thoughts, reflections, and opinions, I hope that we can all continue to do so in spaces that may not be simpatico. There are millions of opinions on the internet… social media is full of “sound bites” where we form opinions without knowing the whole story. Truth becomes optional… clicks become our crumbs to follow the false narrative. We have invested our time and minds in what only serves us, rather than what informs us. This is wrong, this is false, this is unhealthy, this is not good.

Let’s all get off the merry-go-round and sit with the contrarian; we may learn something about ourselves in the process.

Just like that…