I recently got the position of Chief Returning Officer within the Internal Affairs Commission of my Alma Mater Society at Queen's University. In essence, I am in charge of elections within the AMS next year.  It's a very exciting job for me, but also I anticipate it will be extremely difficult. My role has not officially started, yet I'm already facing issues of apathy and lack of motivation and involvement within my student community. 

As a result of coming face to face with this prevailing issue, I've been thinking back on my days as a teenager (I'm almost 20, and this may not seem like a big deal to some of you who are older, but right now, I'm also mid-mourning for my teenage years).  What I realized was that I was apathetic until a certain age too.  I can't pinpoint what got me interested in getting invovled in my community and my world.  It seems as if one day, I just woke up, realized I had a lot to offer and a lot to gain from the world and started getting more involved in my school and community and investing in myself and the growth of my skills, as a result. 

What is it that holds back a lot of today's youth, then? What was that magical ingredient that gets youth rolling in the right direction?

This blog post is more of a discussion opportunity with the TIG community that I know is incredible, invovled, inspired and extremely motivated; a chance to share your thoughts, opinions and maybe even best practices to get YOUTH motivated, involved and anti-apathetic to the world around them. What is your opinion on apathy? What have you done to combat it? 

I came across this video a while ago. It's a simple short film concept, showcasing everyday life moments set to a beautiful song, but I found it very mesmerizing and powerful.

It speaks. And it speaks to me, directly, but also to all human beings on this earth.

To me, the video is inspiration, distilled. And it's also life, at its most beautiful, at its saddest, at its most philosophical and its most everyday, mundane and yet, breathtakingly special.

Just watch the video. And then write words. Speak what it makes you feel. Share.

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It’s 11pm. I have spent the past 6 hours on the internet, acquiring information, reading blogs, essays, book reviews, watching videos, sending emails, checking Facebook, learning how to learn better, checking out Metafilter links, sharing life with the world, virtually. I have spent the entire day in front of a screen, in fact. I have no recollection of the world around me in the past two hours- but I can speak to you on a wide range of topics with fresh perspective, from feminist cultural criticism to my friends’ latest status updates to very interesting and current scientific research as wide-ranging as the application of photons in technology and the implications of dysfunctional endoplasmic reticulum (an organelle present in all eukaryotic cells for the non-science types) on the cell. I’m tired.

And yet, this is a good thing. My body is telling me it’s exhausted, my mind is struggling to remember what I have learned and my eyes are crying out for mercy, yet, thoughts keep on rushing in, inspiration keeps on looking for a spark and THIS IS A GOOD THING is the underlying message throughout it all.

I struggle to grasp this concept. Perhaps it’s because I am truly so exhausted and yet so unable to let myself relax that all I can do is ask “Why?”

Why is it like this?

Our experience with the world has dramatically changed with the introduction of the internet, and in particular with the boom and popularity of Web 2.0 social platforms. It seems as if we feel we will miss out on discussion if we so much as have the decency to sleep.

Recently, I read an article , ironically shared with me through Facebook, about the “FOMO” phenomenon-Fear of Missing Out. At first, I denied it-No, no, that’s not me, I certainly don’t worry about missing out on parties and city events, or any other humorously ridiculous situations the article’s author proposes- but eventually I realized I was afraid of missing out on OPPORTUNITY. Opportunity in education, the job market, personal enrichment, knowledge, social progress, etc, etc.

There is so much to worry about!!! There is so much to wonder about missing out on. The web is growing by exponentials, and thereby, information and knowledge is growing by exponentials. Youtube has more footage than news networks could ever hope to broadcast! Twitter updates happen faster than an earthquake’s seismic waves!.

How do we handle this much this fast? Shorter attention spans? Check. Multitasking that actually slows down progress? Check. Progressive loss of interaction with the real world?...Check.

There just comes a point where we have to back up and think critically about the lives we’re leading. The internet is wonderful. And the internet can be terrible.

I’m asking you, how do you handle the dynamic love-hate relationship with instant connection, instant information and instant gratification? How do you focus on the long-term? How do you disconnect yourself from the Fear of Missing Out?

This Monday was my first experience with a Staff Development Day, and I’m sure it was the same for a lot of the other current TIG interns. I can’t speak for everyone, but I personally found it to be an enriching experience.

Going into the session without any expectations meant that I had an infinite amount to gain from it. It was interesting to see more of everyone in the office, not just those I work with closely, and to see what their opinions and views on issues that mattered to the office were.

I’m a firm believer that communication is the key to solving problems-from personal to work-related to bigger and broader world issues- and it was great to see our office taking on the challenge of brainstorming for solutions.

As today and the coming week will be filled with summarizing the iEARN Youth Summit Evaluations (which is, basically a lot of data entry), I will not be having as exciting of a time as I did this Monday-nor one filled with too much communication- so I really value the time spent this Monday enriching our office environment.

Peace out for the weekend!

Dedication is harder done than said. Like most other things in life. Take smoking. You would probably club your teenage self in the head for trying that first cigarette…that’s what got you hooked, you think. That’s what made it so hard to dedicate yourself to quitting.

I recently read somewhere (exactly what or where escapes me, but I will post the link if I remember) that because of the instant gratification and delayed negative impact in bad habits, they are harder to kick, and because of the instant pain or negative impact and delayed gratification in good habits, they are harder to pick up.

Blogging, in its own right, is of the delayed-gratification type. As you stare at a blank screen, you will wonder whether what you’re writing is of any importance, whether anyone is listening, whether you really care about what you write, or whether you left the stove on and now have to get out of your comfy bed yet again.

We need to reverse this thinking slowly, step by step. Imagine you were the writer of a blog no one reads…Imagine you decided you had no time, and you saw no point in blogging…Imagine you were about to log on and delete your blog. Hypothetically, of course. Now, say you logged in and saw a little screen that reminded you exactly why you started the blog to begin with and why you had to keep going. Say this happened every day. Say you understood the motives behind your actions.

Wouldn’t it be beautiful? Little by little, the message would seep through. Imagine there was nothing stopping you from implementing beneficial plans, productive activities, useful habits. Imagine.

Wouldn’t it be possible? So, I ask you, what’s stopping you? What's REALLY stopping you from doing what you constantly tell yourself you will one day do?