Yesterday, Sylvia shared a few thoughts stemming from her post shared on Mastodon:
I'm building a new habit here on Mastodon: instead of liking, I try to reply to at least 3 posts, especially on those that don't have comments yet and I love it.
It's so much more personal! - @sylvia@social.lol
And while I strongly encourage you to read the entirety of her post, she discovered that people who engaged with her fell into two distinct groups:
- Those who loved the idea and planned to follow suit
- Those who loved the idea yet doubted people would read their words
Taking a moment to consider, I felt that I fell into that first group - I long for the "days of olde" where social media seemed to be more social than media. And I truly loved the idea - if I were to be honest I'd rather engage with others than be the one to start.
Which, if I moment to go slightly off the rails here, is counter to what I seem to actually do - I post prolifically, yet I reply... uhh... strategically? Yeah, that's what I'm going to go with.
So why am I not replying then?
Probably because if I actually take a full moment to consider, it's that I'm completely uncertain if anyone would care for what I might have to add. Case in point - I originally clicked reply on Silvia's post on mastodon and stared at my screen thinking of the perfect words to type.
Never actually replied. There at least. I eventually convinced myself to reply to her blog post to share that I wanted to add a few thoughts, and well... here you have it.
But it unearthed the real issue - the paralysis of the unknown getting in the way of simply doing.
So maybe it's time I take my own advice (shared yesterday):
If there's something you want to do, or better yet need to do, just do it. Take that step. Take that plunge. Write that story. Sing that song.
Reply to that post.