#WhatAboutUs

Have you thought about the power a song can have in your life?

If you do one thing after reading this blog post, I hope you download Pink’s song, What About Us. It’s THE perfect #DigCit week anthem for loads of reasons, but it is also just an INCREDIBLE life song. I want to share some thoughts on digital citizenship, and using Pink’s lyrics is the perfect way to inspire my thinking.

We are searchlights, we can see in the dark…
Much of what I do online is a search for meaning. I look for people to connect with who will grow my thinking, causes, and my ideas. I’m a searchlight thinking about how I can shine light on other people’s causes, and I hope they will shine light on my work too. Every retweet, like, and comment adds a bright spark to someone’s work, so get out there and add sparks to someone you know and admire!

We are rockets, pointed up at the stars…
In some ways, my online life has been like a rocket in the last year. I’ve met so many incredible people and had experiences I never imagined possible. Without being a connected learner none of these things would have ever happened. I’ve met hundreds of authors online who have grown my book activism, but more importantly they’ve grown my heart for words and the world! Being a connected learner opens a universe of opportunities, so get out there and connect your stars!

We are billions of beautiful hearts...
It’s true that there is more GOOD online, than bad. Yes, there are trolls and haters, but you can block those people and bloom in so many ways, even after a bad experience. The hardest lesson I’ve learned this year is realizing people you thought were your supporters for life can move on. It’s the most difficult thing for me to understand because I see my online life as REAL. What I mean is when I see your beautiful heart, I want to hold onto it forever. I wish when people saw my heart, they felt the same kind of forever. Sometimes digital connectors don’t define forever in the same way. So, be the kind of beautiful heart who holds onto someone forever! Forever is sooooo amazing!

Many fooled us…enough is enough…
This song gives us a mission about thinking deeply about relationships. It can be hard to understand who is real, and who isn’t; who is supportive and who is lurking; who feels jealousy and who feels genuine happiness when you’ve accomplished something big. Social media puts a magnifying glass on all these things. One word my mum and I have talked about A LOT is authenticity. Think about the authentic voices you know and LISTEN. Don’t be fooled by the people who try to knock you off your game. Be real and feel the joy with people who are ready to love you BIG!

We are problems that want to be solved…we are children that need to be loved…
There NEEDS to be space for kid voices in this big world. Kids can do amazing things; all they need is a grown up who believes in them. Last weekend, I met Magic Johnson (yes, THE Magic Johnson) at the National Families Learning Conference in Tucson, AZ. He said some words in his keynote that made me think hard. Magic shared how he NEEDED people to see his worth. Even though he is successful, he STILL needs people to affirm and reassure him. I think we ALL need reassurance. On social media, you can affirm people by simply liking or retweeting. It’s that simple. You can SHOW your love and support with a click. So I challenge you to reach out and connect with someone you know might need an extra lift. Look beyond your obvious people and find someone new!

It's the start of us, waking up…are you ready? I'll be ready…
Sometimes I worry about my people. If you are my people, you already know about my worries. Sorry! Mostly, I worry about people leaving. This worry is because of an accident I saw happen where I almost lost someone I love very much. My worries made me wake up to BIG ideas about love and life. EVERYONE needs to know that they have a place in a person’s heart that has some permanence. I have a word for this: HEARTBEEPS. If you follow me you probably see me use it a lot. When I feel heartbeeps for someone, it’s the best feeling ever! It’s a feeling I hope never leaves. Think about the people you know and wake up to the power of heartbeeps! It’s the best kind of love you can feel and can carry you into your forever!

So, what about you? What about us? Let’s make a difference together. Let’s change the world. Let’s BE more. DO more. CARE more. HUG more. Let’s hug as hard as Magic Johnson! Believe me, he hugs HARD! I felt it for DAYS! Let’s LOVE more! If we do all that, the whole world will have soooooo many heartbeeps, it will never be the same.

Keep Reading! Keep Thinking! And, thank you for following LivBits!