Unbothered
Here we are again! It’s a new month and time to announce the Herd word that will serve as our theme to carry us through the next several weeks. After a lot of brainstorming, tossing words against the wall to see what would stick and cycling through the dictionary, we looked around us and realized the word that best described what we are witnessing is … Unbothered.
Now the word unbothered is defined as showing or feeling a lack of concern about or interest in something. Interesting. The more I think about the essence or root of this word one can’t help but focus on the suffix – bothered, which means to be concerned about something.
To become unbothered, you must first be bothered. I’m starting to wonder if many of us are choosing to claim we’re unbothered because it has become so tiring to be bothered. I mean think about it. Racism, genderism, homophobisim, ism after ism after ism. It’s bothering. Facing isms every day is bothersome and eventually we reach a point where self-preservation is paramount, thus we slowly transition into the space of being unbothered. But don’t confuse unbothered with uncaring. Unbothered simply means I am choosing not to let your issues become a deterrent or obstacle standing in the way of my success.
Remember, just because one is unbothered doesn’t mean they won’t challenge the system when they witness unjust or unfair treatment of others. What unbothered means is that although based on society’s standards, the odds are against them, it doesn’t matter. An unbothered person has a goal and is determined to reach it – with or without your encouragement or support.
So please remember while one may be unbothered, do know at the core of their being something bothered them, and they made a choice. They are moving on. Either remain stagnant or shake it off and become unbothered. Make sure you follow us during the month of May as we feature four amazing people from our community who have blazed new trails because they chose to be unbothered. Their stories will inspire and amaze you.