The ‘Are You In The Right Headspace?’ Meme Is The Funniest Way To Break Bad News
Are you in the right headspace to receive information that could possibly hurt you?
The past month has been huge for the topic of emotional labour and friendship.
The discourse kicked off two weeks ago with a social justice advocate discussing the importance of “asking for consent for emotional labour“. At the end of her Twitter thread, Melissa A. Fabello shared a cold, robotic template for essentially rejecting friends who reach out for help.
PS: Someone reached out and asked for an example of how you can respond to someone if you don’t have the space to support them.
I offered this template: pic.twitter.com/lCzDl60Igy
— Melissa A. Fabello, PhD (@fyeahmfabello) November 19, 2019
Melissa’s copy-and-paste template ended up becoming a huge meme, with people criticising her for the transactional nature of her friendships. The “I’m At Capacity” meme turned into a great way to poke fun at the notion of self-care, but fizzled out after a couple of days.
The New ‘We Need To Talk’
Once the “I’m At Capacity” meme disappeared back into the the Twittersphere, another Twitter user decided to revive the emotional labour conversation.
“I just want to say, a lot of y’all dump information on your friends at the wrong time without their consent,” Yana tweeted. “If you know it’s something that could hurt them, ask permission before you decide to be messy. Please.”
I just want to say, a lot of y’all dump information on your friends at the wrong time without their consent. If you know it’s something that could hurt them, ask permission before you decide to be messy. Please. pic.twitter.com/L3jWGni1FW
— yana (@YanaBirt) November 29, 2019
The tweet was paired with a screenshot of a message that read: “Are you in the right headspace to receive information that could possibly hurt you?”
People weren’t exactly thrilled by the wording of Yana’s message, claiming that all it does is incite stress and anxiety.
You should probably reword that to "Are you in the right headspace to talk about a heavy or sensitive topic? Particularly <insert topic>. If not, it's okay" Don't leave it blank. The lack of info makes people curious. It's like putting trigger warning, without the actual warning. https://t.co/d66gMqI4cb
— ❅❆ 𝙻𝚎𝚊 ❆❅ (@Fox_Rain_04) December 3, 2019
This message is designed to take responsibility off the sender for sharing the information & put it on the recipient for agreeing to hear it. Its manipulative & self serving. If you know something that could hurt someone, take full responsibility for sharing it or not.
— Nell Butler #cep (@Erythrina5) December 1, 2019
While the sentiment was understood and supported, the general consensus was that the approach was all wrong.
asking kindly if it’s okay to drop some heavy shit on someone is one thing and it is definitely needed but this is way off 🥴
— noé (@w_smhh) December 1, 2019
oh my god bro u can just say “hey can i talk to u?”
— 💎josuke’s crippling credit card debt💎 (@josukeluvbug) December 2, 2019
Are You In The Right Headspace For These Memes?
So the internet obviously turned Yana’s unnecessarily dramatic message into one big meme. The “are you in the right headspace?” text perfectly slots into any situations where you might utter the words, “we need to talk”.
— reaghan (@reaghhan) December 1, 2019
Me: Hi can I get an ice cream cone please
McDonald’s worker: Are you in the right headspace to receive information that could possibly hurt you?
— Chris 🍁 (@bayoulejeune) December 2, 2019
me: i can’t wait to have kids and watch them grow into smart, strong adul-
climate change: are you in the right headspace to receive information that could possibly hurt you?
— playboi nardi (@avantnard) December 2, 2019
“Are you in the right headspace to receive information that could possibly hurt you?” pic.twitter.com/u6ajsOGeJN
— Alex Jacobs (@alexnjacobs) December 2, 2019
Darth Vader: Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father.
Luke: He told me enough! He told me you killed him!
Darth Vader: Are you in the right headspace to receive information that could possibly hurt you?
— sloane (@skipper) December 2, 2019
professor: so who here is feeling confident about the material?
students: are you in the right headspace to receive information that could possibly hurt you?
— emily ✨ (@uhhmmily) December 3, 2019
her: did you pull out?
me: are you in the right headspace to receive information that could possibly hurt you?
— perc nowitzki (@ogmaxb) December 3, 2019
juul inc: juul is a healthy, safe alternative to smoking cigarettes with 0 downsides
teenagers: yayyyy
juul inc (4 years later): are you in the right headspace to receive information that could possibly hurt you?
— Beans After Dark (@goodbeanalt) December 3, 2019
me: aw i look so cute
my camera: are you in the right headspace to receive information that could possibly hurt you?
— g (@ghinapalestina) December 2, 2019
But all jokes aside, never start your messages like Yana unless you want to lose your friends.