Proposal: Bring Back Shunning

I really don’t mind that my body is getting me up early.

Give me some quiet time before really starting my day and allows me to sort my thoughts.

Also, I have seen some splendid sunrises.

I have been thinking and I believe we need to bring shunning back into vogue.

Shun (verb)-
persistently avoid, ignore, or reject (someone or something) through antipathy or caution.

I tend to shun people and things out of caution and for my wellbeing.

There was a time that I tried to be all inclusive because I knew what it was like to be shut out.

When I was a young fan, the science-fiction and fantasy community bent over backwards to include all fen (fans). We had been the other until we found fandom and a group that we were a part of.

Now fandom is mainstream and people no longer hide their love of things that were nerd territory back in the day.

The difficulty with this is that in including all, there were people who were problematic for a variety of reasons including predatory behavior. Until recently there were always excuses as to why these individuals were allowed to remain. They played on everyone’s sympathies and feelings isolation.

There were some that went so far over the line that fandom shunned them. They were not allowed into conventions or go to meetings of the various clubs.

With the internet, it is easier for like-minded folks to find each other and create their little worlds which has both positives and negatives.

We have this new thing of cancel culture which is destroying lives and careers sometimes based on something that they wrote when they were underaged. It is not a good thing.

I propose that we stop cancelling and start shunning.

I am grateful for beautiful sunrises.