Twitter Voices

I have been walking around with a cloud hovering over my head these past few days living in guilt. Somewhere inside of me, something is eating me up inside. Because I am starting to see (again, like I did with my anti-slavery campaign) that where I stand, my position, comfort and security is leveraged. But this time, my expenses and consumerism contribute to the expense of those lives who tweet of their deaths and dangers, appealing in 'real-time'. 

Too often when we get fired up and passionate about something, we put our emotional state at risk of blinding our rational state. But if there is one thing I have learnt from this issue with Gaza, it is that I do not regret following and listening to the lives of those who on the ground, crying out to be heard. They have so much resilience, it makes me feel ashamed. I admit to moments when I felt like breaking down at the images of injustices. Realizing after, what they endure is more than tenfold what I'm feeling.

In its cliche form, these people opened my eyes. And made me realize what illusion I've been living in. My emotional dissonance in the moment is proof that something is changing  in my perception, somewhere. God help me that this change be for the better, and it remains so without bringing me into hypocrisy.

Early last week, Al Jazeera English read my tweet on The Stream, "Social media brings more truth, from the voices and raw stories/footages in a manner the corporate media is unable to capture." It is easy to make assumptions when lives are written vaguely. Perceptions can be distorted when transmitted by the middle, claiming 'objectivity'. The middle being media. I do not hate on the media, I've become skeptical of it, and its capacity to sway public perception from its political affiliations, nuances and priorities in conveying stories.

But the social media...it can be a powerful tool, in a humanizing sense.
It conveys mundane routines and provokes comparison of what is the norm at each end. With nothing intervening or filtering in between. Or so, I'd like to think.

How simple lives and smallest things are the same. Yet how drastically they can differ. Lives can be weaved into a thread with social media. The thread comes from the same source, representing the oneness in humanity.

Social media conveys feelings.
Fears, hopes and the language of the heart. In the deepest level, there is so much honesty and authenticity, to it.

If you ask me, the planes and paradigms of conflicts have shifted. 

We live in a generation where there is a weapon of information, capable of stirring passion. But the greater challenge is turning passion into conscientiousness in actions.