I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions, mostly because the chance of completely (or even partially) following through is pretty much near zero. Some people get angry at the mere mention of these resolutions, calling them a waste of time and a stupid way to start the year. They may have a (small) point, but I see no reason for the anger. Of course, they’re probably the same folks who feel put upon at Valentine’s Day. Gees, relax!
This year, in an effort to reduce what researcher Linda Stone calls “continuous partial attention,” I pledged to give up participation in comment forums on the Internet. The circular arguments, the petty asides, the cast-in-stone attitudes — all a big waste of time. I don’t wade through a lot of these sites, but the ones that I do frequent (Let’s try it on for size: “…but the ones that I used to frequent …”) tended to fragment my attention. Right in the middle of what might have been a productive period of thought, the interruption would arrive and I’d have to revisit that page to see if Troll#57 had checked back in. Hey, maybe somebody had put him in his place this time! But we all know that that never happens. There are people out there who just want to prolong the argument. They’ll argue that water isn’t actually wet, or that it all depends on what “wet” means, or …
As a person who’s always looking for something new, I’m particularly amazed when a commenter will indicate that they’re done with it all. Just yesterday I read through a thread where the lead commenter declared his complete disinterest in anything new. He was open to hearing something he hadn’t heard before if it was “old” but was closed to the possibility that anything modern would be worth his time. Actually, I’m not amazed at this attitude. Instead, I find it depressing. How does this happen to people?
The antidote to this, which came along just a few minutes later, was this terrific interview with Laurie Anderson. Now here’s a woman whose openness to the possibilities of the universe is endless. She speaks of curating a series at which a friend gave a talk on boilers. Yes, those things that bring the hot from the basement of your apartment building. She also talks about the joy of creation just for the sake of it: not for critics or fans or anybody else. As she puts it, “I’m thrilled by the fact that I made something out of nothing. There it is! It wasn’t there before: there it is — I made it!” I just love that attitude.
So there you have it. I’ve chosen to brush aside all of that negative energy that the trolls bring along with their virus-laden language. I’m sure I’ll be missing the occasional bright & enlightening conversation but those things were so rare that I can’t even think of one to relate.
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