The same way a body builder is convinced his body is being assessed by all those around him, I am now watching people I know do the same, as social animals on the web. Thanks to an immersive lifestyle, that involves Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, we’ve created a psychological three-sided mirror for our social impact on others. 

We believe when we do well, everyone knows and cares. And when we are shamed or embarrassed  – that same “everyone” knows or cares. We think our blog footprint – the things written in that cloud all around us – follows us everywhere. We are wrong on this. It only follows you if you continue to observe it…

Divorce, arrests, affairs, rehab – we ingest this steady diet of life’s badness as it occurs to others – and find ourselves usually more forgiving and detached than we might expect from others. This reaction is unseen for that person undergoing the trauma of embarrassment, because he is suffering. But it is worth nothing, and should be remembered in times of such pain.

Nothing is ever as bad as it seems. Nor does it ever last as long as you think.