Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the similarities between Relationships, meaningful dialogue, social interactions and Diamonds. What? Yes, I heard some of your thoughts… Now what is she talking about???  I’m talking about FACETS ? more seemingly crazy talk. Let me explain…

The first thing to know about diamonds is there’s no such thing as a flawless Diamond… just like there’s no such thing as a flawless Relationship. When you look at the stone—depending on the angle—the more than 50-typical facets will reflect and tell a different story. This is why you see jewelers twirl the rock between their fingers under a loop… so that they can view it from multiple angles to better assess the quality of the stone.

The number, size and shape of the Facets is referred to as the Cut; and is considered the most important of the four Cs: Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat (weight). While each C is taken into consideration when determining the value of a gem, the C effecting the sparkle and brilliance most is the Cut—the Facets.

I was thinking about this while reflecting on the isolating nature we have fallen into while consuming online news and stories from social media, and hearing of so many relationships that have been tarnished, some even destroyed, over personal and political dogmatic views. I wrote about this a few months back when discussing the Netflix documentary, “The Social Dilemma.” And more recently I had conversation with UCLA Professor Tim Groeling from the Communications Department on the impact of social media: the good, the bad and our responsibility as consumers and producers to listen, research, vet and most importantly keep an open mind. It was fascinating and scary at the same time. A big part of the conversation focused on media literacy… vetting and collecting information from multiple sources—particularly before sharing and spreading that information… and then, being open to dialogue especially with people of differing opinions.

Consuming a different perspective might expose a color that isn’t what you thought it was, or that the refraction is muddier than you had anticipated. The information gathered by solely looking at the one facet isn’t necessarily wrong, but forming an opinion from one facet isn’t exactly a wise choice. Our world is fascinating and brilliant because of our infinite Facets not in-spite of them. 

In summary, in order for a diamond to achieve its highest value and authenticate its brilliance, the gem needs to be certified… and that only happens after it is vetted from all angles. I think this is a great lesson for all of us consumers of information. In order for us to be high quality online patrons we should make sure to view things from multiple Facets—only then will our consumption, opinions and contributions be certified and truly brilliant ? . 

                        Here’s to appreciating our beautiful world of many FACETS!