Micah 6:8

I bought some chai latte mix yesterday at Whole Foods. I made it today and took it to class, and as I was sitting there sipping it, I logged onto Twitter and started typing "I am addicted to chai," in the little box. Because the truth is...I am.

That little box will only hold 140 characters.

140 characters, and I decided to say "I am addicted to chai."

And suddenly, right before hitting "enter," I thought to myself, "Why am I saying this? Why do I need the world to know that I am addicted to chai? What possible significance does that have to anyone in my life?"

I quickly erased those five words and closed the site. And that got me to wondering about my generation and our need to be heard. Our chapel speaker briefly hinted at this topic this morning and it left me thinking. I talked to a good friend about this over Christmas break and he said, "I think you could also call our generation one that wants to be heard...but wants someone else to do the work."

It's like Ingrid Michaelson's lyrics: "I want to change the world. Instead I sleep."

We sit and rant and rave about our feelings. We tell 345689 facebook friends that we feel sick, what band we're currently into, what we did this morning, and what we think of a certain movie. Do you ever stop to think of why we do this? Why are we so compelled to tell everything to everyone?

Even before social networking became so popular, I remember getting emails from friends that were full of "50 Things You Don't Know About Me." I'd breeze through theirs and then sit down to erase all of their obviously irrelevant answers and fill in my own...which were way more important and witty (please note my sarcasm). I'd then re-send it out to all my friends. But, let's be honest, very few people care about what my favorite color is, my favorite movie, how many times I've broken a bone, or what I like to collect. The truth is that probably 99.9% of the people who received that email from me didn't even take the time to read my answers, but quickly filled in their own...just like I did.

So what is it about humanity...the intense need to be known...even at the most basic, innocent level (ex. you now know that I am addicted to chai. so what?). And our technology is encouraging it. Facebook asks me everyday, "What's on your mind?" Twitter asks, "What's happening?" But who really cares? If everyone is busy shouting out their own feelings and doings, who is actually getting heard? Anyone? Are we all just voices in the crowd, shouting in vain?

I think we've established that our generation really wants to be heard. But what about wanting someone else to do the work? I'll admit that sometimes writing about an issue makes me feel like I'm actually doing something about it. But am I? Probably not. Sure, I can make other people aware of something, but then what? I don't have these answers yet. I don't fully understand humans or the psychology of this issue enough to really say a whole lot or come up with a lot of resolutions.

I think I am in a place in life where I need to do a little less "talking." I've tried this before (at the beginning of the year, I believe), but I failed. Instead of making everything I say be about me, I want to speak in a way that encourages and spurs others on. I want to be a voice of joy, a voice of positivity, a voice that brings hope in a world full of struggle and heartache. Because I know I need it. And if I need it, I'm sure other people do, too. And I don't fully know how to do this yet, and that's why I feel like I need to be quiet. I want to listen. I want to hear what other people are dealing with so that I know how to help. I want to find ways to be encouraging in general, even when I don't necessarily feel like being positive.

So this is me...trying again. Trying not to just talk, but to act. I will be doing my absolute best to say nothing at all (and I'm still speaking mostly about what I say on social networking sites, but I want it to infuse my real conversation as well) unless I think it can positively impact those around me.

Here we go.