Our most precious commodity is time.

Time with our passions, time with aging parents who won’t be here forever, time with tiny humans who stay tiny for such a short time, time with ourselves and our own thoughts.

It seemed that we had realized this collectively during the pandemic. Employees became aware of how much time they lost when working from offices. Meanwhile, employers realized how much easier it was to control a workforce without time to be reflective.

The conflict isn’t  the left and right, the rich and poor, the white and the rest of the world – the conflict is between people and those who would steal our time by stealing our attention.

When POTUS announces something dramatic and then breaks a clearly written Constitutional law our eyes are glued to screens. Whether we denounce the action or celebrate it, our eyes and therefore our time, are consumed by media. To remain informed we tell ourselves it is important to know every drop of news. Then, after our eyes come unstuck from the wreckage of civilization our screens depict, we sit in panic, anger, and fear under the crushing weight of helplessness and it costs us more in time. Or else, we do not come unstuck for the news is exactly what we hope to see.

We freely give our time away to look into our screens and feel it is our responsibility to know what D.O.G.E. did today, or what the DOJ did yesterday.

It is not.

It is not your responsibility to hand away your most precious commodity so freely to those who profit from your data and benefit from your catatonia.

Does knowing matter? Yes. Does knowing give you power to stop the bullet train of circus performers from making the choices they do? No.

So know – know that the people in charge are not there for you. They are not there for you because they’ve ensured that you’re kept busy with their content while they make the choices they see fit.

This post is not to tell you whom to follow on social media, what news sites to use, or whom to believe. This post is to ask you – who are you giving your time to?

It is unreasonable to challenge anyone to walk away from social media – Pandora opened the box and all that.

It is, however, not only reasonable but also of utmost importance that we consider the time we lose being occupied by someone else’s thoughts, ideas, points of view – because they are not your own. Even now, I am occupying your time with my own opinion in hopes that you are willing to give me the time to listen.

And my opinion is this – unfollow the loud accounts. Follow your friends, follow creators that inspire you, follow the people that make you feel fulfilled.

Compare our political theater to being in school when you were young. Remember the kid that wasn’t funny enough to be class clown – whose jokes and pranks went too far for humor? Remember that kid who would argue with the teacher but never did their homework? Remember that kid that thought too highly of themselves for any group of friends? Did you roll your eyes at them and ignore their approaches or attempts at conversation? Was it because attention only gave them encouragement to keep going as they were? How long did it take you to learn that lesson – did you have to talk to a teacher about it?

You’ve seen what the political circus is capable of. You don’t need to see the next atrocity on your newsfeed, you need to take that time and give it to the protests, the letters to your senators and congress people, and to complex conversations with your friends and your community. Strong and deep relationships and friendships, a strong united front of actively participating voters, and a well-rested resistance will do more than a catatonic smattering of adrenally fatigued individuals. If politics is a circus but no one attends the show, the monkeys don’t have anyone to perform their tricks to and the ring master will go bankrupt. Doesn’t that sound nice?

So let me make it as clear as I can – never stop participating but do it out here with actions – with your voice, your touch and your presence.

Value yourself – value your time.