The Health Benefits of Cancel Culture

It’s everywhere, that phrase, “cancel culture”, but what does it really mean? If you take a look at social media, (the world’s loudest microphone), if someone messes up, or messed up in their past in any way shape, or form, there will be someone who shouts (or retweets) that they are “canceled”. This unforgiving “walk the plank” cancellation of a person, a company, or event seems harsh to some, but is it really?

Someone once told me, “People will treat you how you allow them to treat you”. It stuck with me because it made me look at how I present myself to others and how I am perceived. If someone was treating me disrespectfully, who’s fault was it really? Was it their fault for acting that way, or was it mine for somehow making them think that it is ok to treat me that way? 

Take now people with different opinions than your own. I understand that just because someone has a different opinion than me, it doesn’t make them wrong. But it doesn’t make them right either. And if they are voicing their opinions, or they’re behaving in a way that offends me or doesn’t make me feel good, why wouldn’t I mute them? I mean really. If I turn on the television and there’s something on that I don’t want to watch, I change the channel. If I turn on the radio and can’t stand the song that’s on, I keep scanning. I am in no way required to continue subjecting myself to things and people that I feel are toxic to me in any way shape or form. If I do, then I am choosing to have those feelings and have no reason to complain.

You see, Instagram, Twitter & Facebook, are all just microphones at the hands of anyone that will use them. Think of them as karaoke. If someone who is seen as influential screams into the MIC the reason why they’re canceling someone or something, they have the right to do that. If they want traction to really make an impact, they’ll call on their followers or fans to do as they do. It’s kind of a vicious circle really. 

This is my way of canceling. No, I won’t buy a “My Pillow” and no I don’t care if anyone cares. Yes, I do unfollow people who post things that don’t make me feel good about myself. I’ve decided to continue to cancel whoever I see fit if it means that my peace of mind will return to its previous state.  I consider “cancel culture” a form of healing. I’m pouring all this toxic content through the sieve of tranquility and if it doesn’t get through then it’s thrown away (canceled). This has brought me so much calm. I’m sleeping better, I’m beginning to notice my motivation coming back, I’m seeing the positive side to negative situations. I’m not dwelling on what I can’t change and am seeing my future reshape itself to what it was always meant to be. How is any of that bad? It’s not. And I’m here to tell ya, it’s a direct result of cancel culture. 

I would highly suggest that others follow in my footsteps. Find what makes you feel good and throw the rest away. Don’t follow celebrities because they’re celebrities, follow them because their content speaks to you. Find people that think like you, doing what you’d like to be doing, that motivate you to be the best version of yourself. CANCEL everything else because, at the end of the day, when you lay your head on your pillow, you have to be able to close your eyes and sleep. Your decisions will decide that.

And just one last thing, people should stop complaining about being canceled and start working on fixing or changing the thing that got them canceled in the first place. If that “thing” is something that they truly believe in, then they have to be ok with people having a difference of opinion or be ok with simply being wrong. You can’t please everyone, and if you try you will face an exhausting downward spiral to the bottom where you will not likely land on cubes of memory foam.