We live in a time where everyone thinks something about everything and (almost) everyone feels the need to vent all those opinions on occasion. Do not get me wrong. Being allowed to have an opinion and express it is valuable, but sometimes it’s even more valuable not to like something – or just keep your mouth shut if you do find something.
I read the book a while back The subtle art of not giving off*ck by Mark Manson. In it various subjects are discussed, but the writer also zooms in on our constant urge to find something about everything and to interfere with everything. When I read that, the penny dropped that had been hanging by a thread for some time.
I don’t care that Britney Spears does trippy dances half naked on Instagram live, Anouk has six children from four fathers and what Famke Louise and Denzel Slager think falls under a gender-neutral upbringing. As long as they don’t hurt anyone and don’t cause global panic, I don’t see the point in forming an opinion about this at all. It costs me time, causes me unnecessary (strongly expressed) stress and sometimes I just don’t want to find anything at all.
“But aren’t you allowed to say anything more?” Of course you can, please! But every now and then it doesn’t hurt to count to ten before you say something or send a comment on the internet. Like we all learned in primary school. Because what’s the added value that someone on the other side of the country now knows that you think Douwe Bob is a dick? Nothing at all, in my opinion.
All those opinions that are thrown into my world from all sides all day long, occasionally they drive me crazy. And of course there are plenty of things about which I do have an opinion. In fact, this entire column is an opinion about expressing opinions. Something I probably shouldn’t spend any time or attention on at all. Time to put an end to it, then, so that I can focus on really important things again.