By Cynthia Delgado
While one may imagine that the Vashon of yesteryear was an innocent and bucolic existence marked by wholesome and simple endeavors, the truth is our little green Island has always been eccentric and touched by controversy. Why, just a glance at these headlines from 1905, 1922, and 1908, respectively hints at just how much truth lies in the slogan “Keep Vashon Weird:”
“Mystery coffin found on beach north of Aquarium.”
“F.E. Gilbert’s 5 hens break world’s record, laying 1,421 eggs in one year.”
“Leroy Lander, 82 years old searches for child-wife and 18-month-old baby and $3000 in gold coins.”
While pursuing Island history, I was struck by the charming language of the headlines and the jaunty flourish with which even bad news was conveyed.
The news cycle as it exists today is an oppressive, hyperbolic onslaught of negativity. We are all having our consciousness herded by algorithms into different “camps” that drive despair and fear and hatred through clickbait and sensationalist reporting. Where is the world wide web that was meant to delight and inspire us and expand our minds and understanding? Wasn’t that the promise of the internet? Wasn’t it going to make us smarter and more connected to our brothers and sisters across the planet?
We can know anything, learn anything, be exposed to everything, but in truth most of us are just making a loop around our echo chamber to reinforce “our” ideas, which are actually guardrails put in place by Big Tech to keep us endlessly circling back.
Quite dear to our hearts are a myriad of tragedies, dilemmas, and wounds both personal and political in nature that we can research endlessly and minutely, much to the detriment of our health and ability to respond humanely to ourselves and others. Discouraged and in fear for our mental health, some turn away from our screens. We shut out the news only to awaken at night with our worries renewed and a desire to binge watch nonsense or doomscroll the latest daily atrocity of the war machine we Americans built and paid for.
It’s time to reclaim our agency and do what we can to beat back the outrage and apathy that the search engines serve us up ad nauseum. I offer a gift and challenge to each of you, and extend an invitation to be my cohort in creating good trouble for the hyper-materialists and sinister forces that seek to control all the world’s resources, including consciousness and imagination. Let’s turn the tables with a simple technique inspired by those old-timey Vashon headlines. Join me as a true explorer as we teach our algorithms to offer us the best the world wide web has to offer, and train our minds to envision a vibrant future full of healing and hope for every creature on Earth.
Begin by asking yourself, what is the glorious headline I long to read? Once you have your headline thought out, type it into the search engine of your choice, and the journey begins towards positivity and hope. We all have general wishes for peace, safety, and happy personal outcomes, but often our ideas lack clarity and detail. What would an end to war and suffering truly look and feel like? If we cannot even imagine it, the chance that we could create it is decidedly slim.
The power of our imagination and creativity can be cultivated and strengthened. As Catherine Austin Fitts says, “It’s time to stop worrying about the future and start creating the future you want.” Visualization is a powerful tool that enhances outcomes and creates possibilities. Our most pressing concerns are not addressed by following well-worn technological tracks laid down to drive division and confusion. Whatever is on your heart or troubling your mind can inspire a wonderful, positive headline.
“Massive Uptick in Compassion Leads to Mass Walk-outs as War Machine Grinds to a Halt!”
“Stargazing Surges as Worldwide Hobby as the Habit of Wishing on Stars for Peace Gains Traction!”
“Local Woman finds Love and an Affordable Apartment!”
Fair warning that the algorithm will fight back and spit out terrible contortions of the words that lead to depressing factoids. Keep searching, and four or five pages in, there will be gems to be found and old abandoned websites full of beautiful prayers, cool ideas, and films you’ve never heard of!
The fruits of my glorious headline approach thus far include: a full .pdf dictionary of all medicinal plants with names, properties, and indications; an audio library of Sufi stories; the website of the only Zen Buddhist cooperative on the African continent, which offers all their classes for free; and the complete text of Chief Seattle’s speech from 1854.
I invite you, dear reader, to flesh out the best outcome you can possibly imagine to whatever your heart is broken over and what pains you about the times we are living through. Make up your glorious headline and search! We can retire forever the typical approach to using the internet and instead train ourselves to imagine beautiful outcomes and envision solutions and abundant healing for our world-weary souls.
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable – if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy – dwell on these things.” Philippians 4:8
