I am new to Substack, and I hope this is an appropriate place to continue the conversation. Here are some of the reflections that arose as I listened:
Listening to the conversation, I found myself thinking about the concept of time and our relationship with it.
The world has always contained violence, atrocity, tragedy, environmental disaster, changing institutions, power imbalances, etc.
When I was a kid / teenager (in the 80’s and 90’s) this exposure was limited to about 30 minutes of my day, as the nightly news played. The rest of the news hour included sport, weather and stories of heartwarming events in the community. The remainder of my day was designed by my parents and later by me based on the pattern they had set. It was focused on growing into the best human I could be in my local community; walks to school, homework, band practice, sport, volunteering, acts of kindness, a journal next to my bed, playing with my baby sister, visiting my grandmother, trying not to gossip…
Fast forward to 2026: social media, mobile phones and algorithms expose us to the worst the world has to offer at an unprecedented rate. The daily dose is no longer 30 minutes; it can be multiple hours of algorithm-controlled messaging.
One meaningful response is to model for our children the qualities we hope they will carry into the world: self-discipline, curiosity, kindness, generosity, connection to nature, a strong work ethic and the courage to develop their talents. I believe each of us has something valuable to contribute, and that nurturing and sharing those gifts can make the world better. By raising kind people—whether they are our children or our participants—might we already be creating a positive ripple effect?
I am curious about why that does not feel enough. I think back to the 2010's, when women-only conferences and leadership spaces were growing exponentially. A recurring theme was, 'We can do it all, but not all at once.' Raising babies is a vocation; for millennia, it was recognised as a full-time, noble occupation. Now many of us hold full-time jobs alongside motherhood, sometimes while also caring for our elders. On top of this, are we creating a social norm that expects us all to save the world? If so, what are the unintended consequences? Are we becoming paralysed, unable to make progress because nothing feels like enough? Is our health being negatively affected? And how, under that weight, are we meant to develop the kind of people we want to see in the world?
Perhaps part of the answer lies in giving ourselves permission to release some of these worries and to approach the work with a primary focus on developing people. This may leave us with more energy and make us better able to hold space for difference, while remaining open and curious about complex problems.
I resonate with so much of what you share here, Taryn! I do think that social media makes all the hurt flow faster and amplifies it too - one of my more recent practices has been to put time limits on my phone so I shorten my daily exposure. I have considered quitting it altogether, but the trouble is that some social media use is entangled with my professional work, and I think that is a limitation for many of us.
I do think what we model for our kids is at the core of what we can meaningfully give to the world and I also think you are right in saying that perhaps there is a sort of expectation we are creating for ourselves to save the world - I am sitting with and working on the question: What meaningful impact can I make within my sphere of influence while also honouring my own needs for a balanced life?
I also think that something in the world is fundamentally changing from a few centuries or even decades back, in that we are far more interconnected. I might be wrong, but I think issues now have become so entangled that you are being directly impacted by things happening across the world, whether you like it or not. The threats (and opportunities) of AI, climate change, the war in Iran, Ukraine, the tragedy in Gaza - all of these have direct consequences on our daily lives wherever we live. So in a way, even if we limited our intake of news, it's hard to ignore that my child's professional future and life are being shaped right now by forces well outside of my control. This does not in any way contradict the wise perspective you offer above around choosing what we focus on and releasing some of these worries for things outside of our control – but it does bring to the fore that this is not an easy thing to do. Perhaps even more of a reason to be very disciplined and mindful of where we put our energy and how we choose to contribute.
Unfortunately I couldn’t get to join you due to Substack’s age restriction wall despite being 62 years old! The selfie process just kept failing. I’ve never come across this access restriction before - it seems amazingly draconian. Hope I can get to see the video when it comes out and that I am old enough to do that at least!
Oh, Karen, I’m so sorry. And also, congratulations on being such a young’un! Yes, the recording will be posted, and I hope you will be able to access it. I’ll see if I can’t sleuth any hidden “age restriction” toggles.
I had the age restriction issue too. It may relate to Australia's social media legislation and be because of the 'adult' in 'adult development perhaps signalling the content is of an adult nature and not suitable for minors.
I am mindblown by this! So sorry to hear that from both of you, Karen and Taryn. I have seen this issue before when our vertical development website got flagged in the 'adult' category just because of the 'adult development' description, and my corporate clients were not getting emails from me ... I hope you both watch the recording and would love your thoughts once you do!
I appreciate this additional context. I also appreciate the additional controls that Australia has put around its social media. I’ll see what we can do about changing the tags so that this kind of thing doesn’t trip up other folks from Australia.
I am new to Substack, and I hope this is an appropriate place to continue the conversation. Here are some of the reflections that arose as I listened:
Listening to the conversation, I found myself thinking about the concept of time and our relationship with it.
The world has always contained violence, atrocity, tragedy, environmental disaster, changing institutions, power imbalances, etc.
When I was a kid / teenager (in the 80’s and 90’s) this exposure was limited to about 30 minutes of my day, as the nightly news played. The rest of the news hour included sport, weather and stories of heartwarming events in the community. The remainder of my day was designed by my parents and later by me based on the pattern they had set. It was focused on growing into the best human I could be in my local community; walks to school, homework, band practice, sport, volunteering, acts of kindness, a journal next to my bed, playing with my baby sister, visiting my grandmother, trying not to gossip…
Fast forward to 2026: social media, mobile phones and algorithms expose us to the worst the world has to offer at an unprecedented rate. The daily dose is no longer 30 minutes; it can be multiple hours of algorithm-controlled messaging.
One meaningful response is to model for our children the qualities we hope they will carry into the world: self-discipline, curiosity, kindness, generosity, connection to nature, a strong work ethic and the courage to develop their talents. I believe each of us has something valuable to contribute, and that nurturing and sharing those gifts can make the world better. By raising kind people—whether they are our children or our participants—might we already be creating a positive ripple effect?
I am curious about why that does not feel enough. I think back to the 2010's, when women-only conferences and leadership spaces were growing exponentially. A recurring theme was, 'We can do it all, but not all at once.' Raising babies is a vocation; for millennia, it was recognised as a full-time, noble occupation. Now many of us hold full-time jobs alongside motherhood, sometimes while also caring for our elders. On top of this, are we creating a social norm that expects us all to save the world? If so, what are the unintended consequences? Are we becoming paralysed, unable to make progress because nothing feels like enough? Is our health being negatively affected? And how, under that weight, are we meant to develop the kind of people we want to see in the world?
Perhaps part of the answer lies in giving ourselves permission to release some of these worries and to approach the work with a primary focus on developing people. This may leave us with more energy and make us better able to hold space for difference, while remaining open and curious about complex problems.
I resonate with so much of what you share here, Taryn! I do think that social media makes all the hurt flow faster and amplifies it too - one of my more recent practices has been to put time limits on my phone so I shorten my daily exposure. I have considered quitting it altogether, but the trouble is that some social media use is entangled with my professional work, and I think that is a limitation for many of us.
I do think what we model for our kids is at the core of what we can meaningfully give to the world and I also think you are right in saying that perhaps there is a sort of expectation we are creating for ourselves to save the world - I am sitting with and working on the question: What meaningful impact can I make within my sphere of influence while also honouring my own needs for a balanced life?
I also think that something in the world is fundamentally changing from a few centuries or even decades back, in that we are far more interconnected. I might be wrong, but I think issues now have become so entangled that you are being directly impacted by things happening across the world, whether you like it or not. The threats (and opportunities) of AI, climate change, the war in Iran, Ukraine, the tragedy in Gaza - all of these have direct consequences on our daily lives wherever we live. So in a way, even if we limited our intake of news, it's hard to ignore that my child's professional future and life are being shaped right now by forces well outside of my control. This does not in any way contradict the wise perspective you offer above around choosing what we focus on and releasing some of these worries for things outside of our control – but it does bring to the fore that this is not an easy thing to do. Perhaps even more of a reason to be very disciplined and mindful of where we put our energy and how we choose to contribute.
Unfortunately I couldn’t get to join you due to Substack’s age restriction wall despite being 62 years old! The selfie process just kept failing. I’ve never come across this access restriction before - it seems amazingly draconian. Hope I can get to see the video when it comes out and that I am old enough to do that at least!
Oh, Karen, I’m so sorry. And also, congratulations on being such a young’un! Yes, the recording will be posted, and I hope you will be able to access it. I’ll see if I can’t sleuth any hidden “age restriction” toggles.
I had the age restriction issue too. It may relate to Australia's social media legislation and be because of the 'adult' in 'adult development perhaps signalling the content is of an adult nature and not suitable for minors.
I am mindblown by this! So sorry to hear that from both of you, Karen and Taryn. I have seen this issue before when our vertical development website got flagged in the 'adult' category just because of the 'adult development' description, and my corporate clients were not getting emails from me ... I hope you both watch the recording and would love your thoughts once you do!
I appreciate this additional context. I also appreciate the additional controls that Australia has put around its social media. I’ll see what we can do about changing the tags so that this kind of thing doesn’t trip up other folks from Australia.