At some point, humility had value.

Having a humble disposition typically meant courtesy, consideration, and respect for ones peers, elders, and fellow man.  Being humble meant listening first, and responding in a way that meant receipt, if not agreement, of the ideas.   Being humble meant saying please, thank you, sir, ma’am, excuse me, pardon, and good afternoon, good evening, and good night.

Being humble allowed one to open and hold doors for girlfriends, boy friends, the elderly, women, men, anyone.  Being humble meant not cutting in line. It meant not putting ones needs first. It meant graciously allowing another persons priorities to interfere with ones own, often at personal cost.

It seems though, in this modern, supposedly progressive, and very sensitively susceptible world, that humility has no place.

Who are the most popular people?  It seems the most popular are those that post most on instagram, twitter, Facebook, etc.

Does the content posted reflect value?  Most often it does not.  Do selfies, #hashtags, gameplay videos, go pro content, pet videos, people-doing-dumb-things videos, tumblr content, youtube videos,often provide discernible value to all?

The conflict occurs where humility and self-promotion clash.  It seems the major way to boost ones credibility, or at least, “worldly” presence, is to promote oneself digitally, through social media outlets.

Does one post a selfie a day and potentially become famous?

Does one write a valuable post about self promotion and glean accolades, only to find that pursuit hypocritical?

Does one ignore scrutiny and incessantly post pics, stolen quotes, and group photos promoting interest in just “chillin’ with friends?”

Doesn’t this clash with the idea of being humble?

“Hey man, let me get in front of you real quick.  Do you have twitter? Follow @douchecutter.”

“I just took this great video of me fixing my hair in line.  Watch this cashier get totally pissed off while I look pretty.  Forget these people behind me while I look so great.  Im making them famous anyway!”

“Ima take a selfie while ignoring conversation with other people, and I’m gonna use this filter, doesn’t it look terrific?”

“Let me tell you about my baby’s 9:15am wake up activity, 10:16am head bob activity, 11:18am feeding activity, 12:59pm sleeping activity, 1:32pm head shifting activity, 2:19pm roll over activity, 3:49 eye blinking activity, 5:02pm gas passing activity, 6:49pm feeding activity, 8:40pm bath time activity, 9:16 bedtime snap shot.  Let me tell you how exhausting it is chronicling a baby on Facebook for a day.”

Not everyone wants to sell themselves.

Not everyone wants to promote.

Not everyone wants to plaster their existence on social media to feel validated.

Some want to look at a photo album and hear, in person, from a family about its background.

Some want to hear, or play music, instead of downloading it.

Some want a sincere look in the eye, a genuine handshake, and experience the clink of beverages touching, meaning something more than a photo-op in that moment.

Some want a dialogue to impact them, move them, and inspire them.  Some want this to occur directly with another person without having to fill a phone-check time gap relationship with self-esteem validating concerns, that, the other, visually present, and supposedly receptive life form in front of them, fails to register in their absence of humility.

Some people want to live, breathe, touch, and feel their lives and emotions instead of second handing them.

True humility seems a lost art.  Exploitation, exposure, and self promotion are the new humandigital hybrid.  And trolling seems to be the sad new social past time.

We should mean more to each other than icons in a virtual world.  We should be able to engage with each other more positively, considerately, and surely with greater humility.

I hope that we will,

Humbly yours

J