by Jenna Trisko
With the political race in full swing and a great deal of negativity strewn across various media outlets, it’s easy to get discouraged – to feel as though we are doomed. How many of us scroll through our social media feeds and come across an angry rant or a heart-wrenching story that brings down our mood and maybe even our whole day? Sometimes these stories and posts compel us to act, but more often than not, these stories make us question how we will ever solve these problems?
Last year I was looking for a change. I decided to become a freelance writer for the Newsleaders. I have a background in technical writing and always had a desire to explore this other avenue. I was assigned a few human-interest stories that focused on people and organizations trying to make a difference. After my first article, I realized this job was far more than just writing an informative story. The time I had with interviewees began to transform my thinking. All of these people and organizations were doing amazing work in our cities, and their voices were filled with so much passion and heart you knew their big dreams would one day be a reality.
These interviews made me realize how much good there is in the world. People are striving to make the world greener and that began to stir my own passions. So many of us have dreams and aspirations, but we feel as though they aren’t attainable due to a number of challenges or limitations, such as: “It will cost too much” or “I don’t have the time or the resources or the skill set to pull it off.” Through my interviews, I realized none of these people came into their good deeds with the money, or the skill set or the time to make a difference, but somehow they managed to ignore those fears and concerns and still take possibilities and turn them into realities.
So I encourage you all to seek out great people. They are all over the place, waiting to share that beautiful, positive energy with you. It could be your next-door neighbor, the supermarket clerk, or someone who has a mutual friend on Facebook that with one click could become your new social-media buddy.
I also work for an animal-welfare organization, and we use social media regularly to make connections with our supporters and the public. Yesterday, I received a message from a volunteer who was not one of my Facebook friends and a person I had not met previously.
This woman sent the kindest message to me that read, “Hi, my name is Jenna too. I see we both like cats and we both support the rescue, so I think we should be friends.”
The simplicity and realness of that message floored me, almost like how a child would reach out to another child to make friends. As adults, we so easily lose the ability to engage with others out of fear we won’t meet the confines of unwritten social-conformity rules. It made me see how simple it really is to make connections, especially as technology continues to advance.
So I encourage you to find those people who bring you energy and make you feel alive. Weed out the negativity because we all know the world can sometimes be dark. With connections, it’s easy to make the world much brighter. Connection is what makes great things happen.
