A Beautiful Anarchy

LISTENING TO VOICES

We all hear voices. We’re surrounded by them, and as social media becomes more a part of our lives, they’re becoming more numerous, less personal, and much, much louder. Besides the constant squeaking of media, there are voices from the past, from peers and colleagues, from loved ones and that place inside, out of which pours an endless stream of conflicting voices, alternately cheering us on and pulling us back. Hearing voices, barring some psychotic episode, is not the problem; it’s choosing which ones to listen to and which ones to ignore.

It would be so much easier if we could simply box these voices into categories, embracing the good voices, ignoring the bad. But life isn’t often so easily dichotomized. In fact, a constant ...