Oh boy. These personal posts are always the scariest to click ‘publish’.

I’ve always been a person that puts my entire self into everything I do. I wouldn’t exactly call it perfectionism, but I’ve just never been someone that cruises through life at a 50% level. Conveniently, my career thrives off of this energy, but I wasn’t always as comfortable with being open about my passions.

In high school, one could never be the person that was “too into” anything, because that made you look too eager. With the exception of your closest friends, you’re really just defined by your group. Any sign of individualism was unwelcome.

In university, people started to take interest in the individual. My program was full of interesting people doing uniquely incredible things with their spare time. Social events always, in one way or another, started or ended in some thought-provoking life chat. These chats often left me thinking about what I wanted my life to look like once my time at Western was over.

The program itself taught us to be especially critical of the world around us, without losing the real face to face interactions that make us human.

Today, I carry those lessons with me as I work endlessly to create a career that fills my soul and inspires me daily. It’s almost never easy, but I truly love what I do every day and have no problem with sharing that enthusiasm online and to anyone that asks me about my job. I love that I get to share images of happy people and that this can affect someone – if only for a moment – if they come across this online.

In most cases, positivity can only breed positivity.

Still, I see an overwhelming number of people that use Facebook as a venting platform. People that find comfort in commiserating with other people that hate the same things. I see memes shared that allow people to collectively ‘eyeball roll’ at the same minuscule grievances.

Why is this the way we choose to feel less lonely in our world?

Why is apathy cooler than enthusiasm?

“I began to realize how important it was to be an enthusiast in life. If you are interested in something, no matter what it is, go at it full speed ahead. Embrace it with both arms, hug it, love it, and above all, become passionate about it. Lukewarm is no good”

There is nothing inspiring about being an ambassador of negativity. People are sponges, and choosing to post negative things online just brings down the energy of others in your circle.

So, I propose a challenge. 

Let’s look at how we communicate online. Let’s strive to be unapologetically enthusiastic about the things we love. Let’s be less quick to judge others for what they post, and instead take the time to discover who they are at their core. Let’s perpetuate positivity by choosing to refine our personal and professional brand messages. Let’s encourage community over competition by recognizing that the success or joy of another does not detract from anything you are doing.

If you read this and you think, “why bother?”, then my answer is “why not bother?”

Share your light with the world.