Making a difference or just making noise.

By John Van Dyke

Fighting for attention, for likes, for audience. So many voices, opinions, and influencers on so many platforms. It is all about monetizing, feeding algorithms, sponsorship or being part of a community.

Does it matter. Yes.

We have grown so accustom to shock and awe behavior, by so many people, that we no longer pay much attention. We have discovered who we are today. We call it the culture wars.

That seems to be an easy way to explain everything, pick a side, we understand a war.

It is far more complicated, and harder to understand if you really have conversations with a lot of diverse people.

I started a project in what seems like a long time ago, 2017. I wanted to discover who we are, I had conversations with a lot of people around the country, talking to them about their lives. I learned a lot and I shared the conversations. I wanted to make a difference, to help us understand something about ourselves. As one person said, “even if you reach only a few, you will have made a difference.” I think I did.

Today we are a changed country, in a changing world. We are focused on ourselves (surviving), and less interested in others. As someone recently said to me, “We are a country of tribes.”

Mostly just making noise.