We weren't 100% sure of how an open community discussion about mental health would turn out, but the energy created in that space last night was nothing less than AMAZING...

#BALANCE

My generation (early 30s aka the grandpa and grandma segment of the millennial squadron) has done an interesting job at creating a fad based culture around ways of temporarily avoiding real life shit that affect our long-term happiness and mental health. From hashtags like #YOLO #FOMO and #Savage, to obsessing over a stranger's life highlights and lies via our social media feeds, unhealthy technological distractions and coping mechanisms have become an ever growing way of life. I'm not saying millennials hit it first,  but we made it commercially relevant.

Many of our peers are ever developing yet unbalanced young adults. We have been given the power of the internet which contains an unlimited resource of misinformation and quasi facts. For some, healthy and humanizing interactions and connections have been lost or replaced with half witted social media affirmation via our trusty iPhone or Android distractions. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely faults in the ways that our parents and big cousins learned to deal with life's happenings and mental health, but you would think the generation that came up in the "age of information" would have used the resource to actually help their peers instead of choosing to use this magic for temporary entertainment.  

BUT WAIT... All is not lost. This was proven last night. People let their guard down and showed each other how to be vulnerable and judgement free. Face to face exchanges change everything. These are all things that contribute to the balance that we need as humans. This push towards balance actually happened among a group of men and women with many similarities as well as many differences. There were no keyboards and glowing screens to protect us from the occasional internet comment section, or what I like to call the "internet thug pop-off-box". This was an actual human space with real human thoughts, ideas and experiences. You had no choice but to care about the strangers who sat beside and across from you.

I was reminded last night that the Intellectucool community is helping to progress balance within our generation through the different events, discussions, and creative experiences that we produce. I am grateful for this opportunity.... #Blessed (Another millennial hashtag reference)  

Thank you to Locale Workspace for providing the space to Intellectucool to make this happen.