You’re a mashup of what you let in

You can choose how you want to think, or you can let others decide for you.

I’ve shared many times about working to avoid the filter bubble online, and to keep a wide variety of perspectives in your view. Some people choose to fight it, and some choose to let it in. Many prefer to have a filter bubble around them, I think, based on the number of “If you believe x, then unfollow me now” kinds of posts I see on social media.

In “Steal Like An Artist“, author Austin Kleon puts it this way:

“You don’t get to pick your family, but you can pick your teachers and you can pick your friends and you can pick the music you listen to and you can pick the books you read and you can pick the movies you see. You are, in fact, a mashup of what you choose to let into your life. You are the sum of your influences. The German writer Goethe said, “We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.”

There are so many things in our life that we have control over, and you can choose any direction that you want. I hope you’ll choose things that bring more gratitude, empathy, and kindness into your life, but you are free to choose whatever inputs that you desire.