Trump - and personal retrospective.

In one of his viewer question videos, youtuber C.P.G Gray recommends taking time "quarterly" to take an introspective of ones own actions and see what was for the best and what was for the worse. While a formal quarterly self-review is probably not likely or practical for most, now isn't a bad time to use your own social media footprint to see how you have changed and what you were doing and saying years/months/days ago and see the value it added to your life. I recommend it. I did this instantly and was pleasantly surprised.

I call this the "Donald Trump" retrospective.

We all have that crazy facebook friend or relative who goes on and on about their love of Donald Trump. Awhile back there was a thread on social media about "how to find your friends who support Donald Trump" (which for me ended up mostly being friends who were following Trump on Facebook purely to troll the Trump supporters). I found something interesting - nearly every Donald Trump supporter I knew posted incessantly about the Ebola virus. It turns out, much like the George W. Bush or Barack Obama's presidencies, Ebola did not destroy the world or the US or spread Islam, or war or socialism. People who always think the past was better and teenagers today are awful (cannot stress enough: Watch the vsauce video on "Juvenoia") 

"Really reactionary folks... not too bright," I thought. 

But what good does judging others do? You certainly aren't going to "wise someone up" (educate yourself sheeple!) How about improving yourself? 

• I'm much less angry toward people I disagree with.
• My views on gun control have gotten more moderate (still no fan of guns, referring to the laws).
• I tend to feel like I have more understanding and forgiveness or empathy toward people who have totally different views on life... "in their shoes".
• I've cut ties with people who are homophobic, anti-certain religions (you can see who you've removed from your newsfeed on facebook for this sort of thing).
• I like people who are weird, different.
• I'm a less active facebook user than I used to be. I rarely post anything political. It's mostly pictures of the kids and traveling.
• I'm definitely a "logic person", not a fear-driven person. I do have trouble dealing with people who go "with the gut" rather than the "head".
• Satire is my favorite form of discourse.
• I value people who are important to me. 

Social media is a big thing for me. I've worked from home the past six years. Some family has moved away, started their own families and the same is true of close friends I rarely see anymore. I've connected more with people I've talked with more on social media than I did first in person, high school friends, co-workers, etc. This is a great foot print for me to go back and not only appreciate the fun things I've done as a parent and working in the entertainment industry the past dozen years, but also to see how I've changed - and where I need to keep making myself better. I'll keep that list to myself however.

So you see the Trump supporters on social media... rather than responding back with vitriol, it's more worth your time to "close that window" or "hide that story" and look at your own self. What did you do that you "cringe" about five years later? What changes have you made? Where can you keep improving?