We’re in a mess and it’s not normal. Focus on social quality
By Natasja Beyleveld, Managing Director of NaMedia.
It’s safe to say that often quantity exceeds quality of events and engagements, but technology has put us into fast-forward, – fast-tracked, high paced multi-event and endless networking for political, economic and social causes.
And that we somehow find purpose in these engagements is an acknowledgement of your skills, ideas and contributions. It’s as if the action movie was put on pause. As if the seriousness of what was deemed serious – has been put on pause. The human is coming out to peek at what makes life matter.
We’re asked; what do I do that matters, and why? How do I reach out without touching, and how do I extend, contribute, grow – and why? It’s OK to find ourselves on our knees praying in gratitude or uncertainty. As marketing campaigns suddenly feel irrelevant, we’re all drawn to international news, and ongoing updates from local authorities. We hammer into social media, and we’re social again – sharing our humane likenesses such as humour, compassion, love, hobbies, emotion. With something underlying keeping all of us connected, involved, and …. Waiting?
When we’re used to binge-watching and participating in all elements of life, and we’re forced to find purpose in the hours in between, we’re humbled. We find comfort in each other’s quirkiness. We have no titles. The silence becomes your first buy-in to what is needed in life; food, water, rest, love. No need for the gospel-hair and painful waxing now.
Our companies, the wheels of the economy – are confronted with both survival mode, and social responsibility. We haven’t been trained how to communicate outside of the ‘box per usual’, and it’s a learning curve. The balancing act is finding the best way to map out what makes your company a good citizen. What makes your company thrive even when confined to home spaces. We’re losing income, but we’re investing in the vehicle which is the people. People, not machines – will rebuild as we have for centuries. Never was it comfortable, easy, or silo experiences. Ignorance is only recognised the moment everything we accepted as normal, has been taken from us in a matter of hours.
Seeing this as an opportunity to change the way we communicate, we start to understand that sometimes, less is more. Sometimes, we need to elevate one part of our message more than the other parts. And we’re understanding that this is a time to be a good human – you will only find comfort and purpose in the comfort that you provide to others.
We’re in a mess, and it’s not normal. Make it your duty to use social networks to ask social organisations where need has been identified, and offer to help. Do your job well, keep on serving clients. Breathe. Contextualise. Envision. Choose quality, not quantity.
Sending you extra love today,
Natasja
