Turns out that I have more smaller thoughts than I thought (try saying that three times fast). Coupled with some nice feedback, has inspired me to publish some more bit sized posts for you to consume.

The Happiness Privilege

I’ve just finished Happy, Sexy, Millionaire by Steven Bartlet. It’s a pretty short book that doesn’t fall into the same trap most books with a similar message do and become a series of cherry-picked anecdotal stories. Near the start he discusses his pursuit of happiness, in that he started out with the wrong outlook and gives one of the most important outlooks that I’ve read for a while.

The premise is to not look for things to make you happy, but look for happiness instead. As he points out, just the sheer contemplation of wanting to change your life to be happy comes from an amazingly privileged place already.

The fact that you can even dare to think about changing things in your life to be more happy should make you stop and think. There is a massive section of the world that this simply isn’t an option, there is no other process than simply doing whatever they need to survive. We are all in an amazingly privileged place just to be reading this text and thinking about happiness, never forget that. You are already enough.

Quiet Apathy

There’s a general belief that there are only two sides of every argument now. Commentators point to issues like Brexit and vaccinations that the world at large is moving further apart. There’s some truth in this, at least in my anecdotal observations, the world does seem further apart. However, that is because you only hear from both of these extreme sides, and the rest of us don’t care enough.

Take something like the online discourse around the COVID-19 vaccine. Peruse the online world, and you might think you’re either in the camp that got it as soon as possible, or you’re an anti-vaxer. The truth is, the vast majority of people were somewhere in the middle. Positive about the advancements, but prefer a bit of a wait and see mentality. We don’t need to be split into camps, but the reality of the online world is that the other side of the argument is always wrong. Quiet apathy is the way to live life happily, have your opinions but don’t give a damn about other people’s versions of them. Bliss.

Quote Of The Week

All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake up in the day to find it was vanity, but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible - T.E. Lawrence

Mastodon For Companies

I love the fact that Twitter is burning down. Not for the staff there, I hate that these talented people are without jobs or forced to have one they don’t like. But for the selfish fact it has got me to the stage where my need to visit has diminished, and I feel mush happier about the world.

The only thing I miss is being able to get in touch with brands. Many seem to prioritise support through Twitter and Facebook (neither of which I use) and sending them a tweet for help is easy to do. With this in mind I wondered what would happen if Twitter imploded, or the brand just didn’t want to be there any more, and I ran through a thought experiment where they all had Mastodon instances.

It would be straightforward to toot (I still hate that word) at a brand’s customer service if they all become universal. For instance, all customer service could be @cs@webaddress, and you wouldn’t need to root around for anything. Amazon order not shown up, just message @cs@amazon.co.uk or had a bad experience in Tesco, reach out to @cs@tesco.co.uk. This opens up the ability to have those individuals who are representative of the brand, or otherwise want to be open to contact to have the ability, or you just have an internal social network too.

Yes, this relies on everyone understanding Mastodon and there are many that still don’t, but I think it’s a pretty nice idea. Thoughts?