Be human, be kind, be humankind

There are seven billion people on earth and I am confident in thinking that the overwhelming majority of them generally want the same things: peace, prosperity and safety for themselves, their families and their communities. With that being the case, why is it that we allow ourselves to be consistently tricked into making fear, distrust, and combativeness a significant part of our daily mindset? Why do we let politicians and media outlets set divisive priorities, and why do we let those priorities so dramatically affect the way we view and interact with people, communities, and cultures which we have probably not had the chance to understand with any substantial personal depth.

With that in mind, +Planet was developed. It was born from a dissatisfaction uncovered in a high school Media Literacy class after a semester of studying media’s role in shaping individual identities, gender roles, personal insecurities, and cultural norms. As students found themselves inundated with stories of war in history class, the threat of climate change in science class, and stories of struggle and alienation in English class, it seemed as if high school was simply designed to scare students into the cycle of societal submission that keeps us headed down the path of cultural distrust and personal dissatisfaction.

Couple that with free time filled with news, films, songs, and video games that define and reinforce gender stereotypes, violent solutions, and general disrespect, it was decided that a new voice was needed in order to begin changing the conversation.

As a result,  the experiment was launched. If instead of inundating our days with stories of violence, fear, and hatred, what if the focus of our daily media consumption centered on celebrating the everyday heroes in cities and small towns around the globe? What if we could celebrate the kind and compassionate neighbors, organizations, and global citizens that make up the vast majority of humanity, instead of being taught to fear the politically motivated statistical increase in homicide, or the lone murderer in a city far away? What if we could look beyond the divisive labels we have been trained to take as gospel, and begin treating one another as simply humans.

Understand that this is not a pie in the sky, utopian dissertation asking people to take the “ignorance is bliss” approach to daily life. It is simply a suggestion that if we address negativity productively without obsessing on it destructively, we might possibly have a small chance of righting a ship that has veered sharply off course.

In the end, kindness and compassion ultimately have nothing to do with race, religion, gender, sexual preference, political affiliation, geographic region or any other pre-defined categorization. It has simply to do with doing what most of us want; what is human, and what is kind. It is acting together responsibly as humankind.

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+Planet is always looking for content from anyone and everyone. If you know of a person, event, or organization that inspires positivity, perseverance, strength or hope, let us know or send us a story. We also accept blog submissions about topics relevant to our purpose. Thanks for reading and be sure to check out the website, follow us on Twitter @positiveplanet_ and like us on Facebook.