2013: The Year of the Selfie

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word selfie is the proclaimed word of the year. I am surprised it beat the word twerk, but that is another story. In a Wikipedia submission, the word selfie is said to mean: A type of self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a hand-held digital camera or camera phone, and are usually taken in a slightly tilted manner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selfie

Sadly, this word, is what I feel sums up the behaviour pattern, and nature of a lot of the western world this year. In many ways we have been focused on selfishness. The

concept of the selfie does not exist without a focus on self. That is what a lot of people have been focusing on self.

I saw some shocking videos that were posted on worldstarhiphop.com of a group of teenagers and men fighting over an item, and one of the 16 year old girls brought out a Taser gun to use.

More shocking than the fact that they were fighting over an object, was the fact that this girl brought a Taser to the American shopping mall in anticipation of any fights. They were expecting something to happen.

Look at the Black Friday sales as an example: Black Friday is a day coming after the day of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a day when people are supposed to be grateful for what they have, but Black Friday ends up bringing out the worst, a the beastly nature in people.

What I also find ironic about black Friday, and cyber Monday sales is that most of these corporations over-charge and inflate their prices, beyond reason, the over 364 days of the year.

One day is characterised by thanks, gratitude, and contentment, and the other brings out the greed in some people.

Maybe more people should promote some trends that are to do with significant actions like acts of kindness, and generosity. Trends like #givingTuesday, which involved the UN Foundation, over 2000 partners, and various US states.

This movement helped to increase online giving by 50%. It starts again on Tuesday December 3rd, where people can write a cause they are giving towards on a piece of paper, and take an unselfie.

You can search #givingtuesday and #unselfie on Google to get involved. It is about more than just a day dedicated to giving. To keep the spirit of generosity going, you can be more specific about integrating acts of kindness into your lifestyle.

Here are a few options you can explore:

1. You can plan or set yourself targets where you engage in a certain number of acts of kindness over a period of time. Make it fun.

2. Start small, with the daily acts of kindness, the simple things like opening a door for others or thank-yous.

3. You can set up your own events, and get together with others to start your own movements.

Sometimes, we forget that it is the little things in life that make a huge difference. There is nothing wrong with taking a bunch of pictures of ourselves, but it should never be an obsession or the trend.