Getting Liked

I have spent years of personal work to shake off the hold of public opinion.

When I was a child Approval showed up as gold or silver stars - one, two, three and  sometimes even 4! We still use the star metric to rate products or service as 1-2-3-4-5 Star.

Now, it’s a curious balance to look at my motivation. Why I am doing this?  Do I do it to get gold star approval or because my heart and soul compel me to do so?

 

Publicly posting is a hard thing for me to do: it bumps into to my social inadequacies and my various degrees of self-assuredness (or lack thereof).

 

I run into a conflict when blogging and posting. After I drag myself through the ringer to articulate and share something I find “important,” I then go through a whole range of personal dramas as I watch how many Likes, Hearts, or Thumbs-up I get. For me, I know it’s another way of saying I hear you, but there is the approval factor there, too.

 

Social media is a funny thing. It has built friendships and business. We share such a wide range of things, from someone else’s words to personal heart-wrenching stories. We hit Send and there goes our opinion, a gem, a story, bouncing off a satellite; then it lands into someone else’s personal technology universe. There to then be read, ignored, opined upon, responded to, disliked or liked.

I have to tell you— it’s unnerving!  Do you feel this way or is it just me?

 

Recently, I began to ask myself a series of questions before I post anything:

  • Is this important for me to share?

  • What is my motivation?

  • Do I want to share this? Do I feel I have to share this? Or do I think I should share this? (because it's good for my public image).

  • Do I care if it gets approval (or I get my ego stroke) or not?

 

I guess why I am compelled to share this post is to invite you (and me) look to our motives, and why we want the Like or want to Like other folks’ posts.  And it is YOUR opinion that matters— only your opinion.

Know what the middle way is for you.  Do you still like yourself if your post doesn't get Liked? Do the numbers of Likes change how you feel about your new love, your new poem, your new shoes? 

Remember to hold your power, hold your center, HOLD YOUR TRUTH as your share your life with the world.

Damini Celebre