Notes from Nathan: But why Gossip?

he meaning of gossip: 

1. Rumor or talk of a personal, sensational, or intimate nature.
2. A person who habitually spreads intimate or private rumors or facts.
3. Trivial, chatty talk or writing.  Now that we know what gossip is, I challenge us to ask ourselves why we individually get caught up in it?
   

 It was Barbara Walters who once said, “Show me someone who never gossips, and I’ll show you someone who isn’t interested in people”

To that effect, gossip has always been about people, about community. It has even been about politics. In short, gossip has consistently been a part of our social lives; regardless if we choose to engage in it or not.

Since "putting myself out there", I have been faced with a considerable amount of scrutiny by people who I considered to be my peers.  What I learned from these notions and accusations is that people need something to talk about.  As humans, we rarely seek truth from it's source.  It's too much work.  We want our information right now, whether it's authentic or not.

Sadly, gossip has the power to sever a relationships for the mere fact that people take what they read or see and create their own interpretations.

Dwight Allen O'Neal and I filmed and posted the January 2010 We Are The Media video on January 1st.  Our goal was to talk about Paparazzi (Dwight's highly anticipated birthday weekend) and to talk about our 2010 outlook .  The video was up for less than 3 days before all hell broke loose.  On day one, I received a phone call from one of my peers questioning inflections and gesturing in the video, things that Dwight and I hadn't noticed ourselves.  Later, we were accused of staging the video to create drama and get hits on Youtube.  Nice concept, but not the case.  The video was raw and unrehearsed, however, gouged into like the seventh grade dissection of a frog in Biology class.

Magazines and gossip shows rate high on people's favorite things to read and watch.   Sadly, it's the thing that fuels our society.  People hunger to know the sordid details of the lives of celebrities, friends and even enemies. One might question what life would be like if we simply minded our own business or went straight to the source for the information we needed instead of believing it from a third party.  But again that's just too much work.

So, I ask you today... How long can YOU go without giving or receiving gossip?  It's very likely that this article will become a source for gossip, depending on who reads it.

Have an amazing Thursday!