Pinksocks State Of Mind

Post written by Burt Rosen

It’s hard for me to remember when I joined the pinksocks tribe, but it was somewhere in the last year.

Pretty much an unforgettable experience. Upon initiation, when I was gifted the socks and explained what the gifting meant and where it came from, I was blown away by the sincerity and authenticity of the act. It started with a simple comment I made.

“I like your socks.”

Something so simple led to being gifted two pair, one for me and one for me to gift. The explanation is what moved me and what I won’t forget.

“This gift means to you what you want it to mean.”

It didn’t stand for healthcare, it didn’t stand for disruption, it didn’t stand for a group manifesto, it stood for what it meant to me. What I felt when I received the gift, how I want people to treat each other, and how I want the world to work. It still moves me to think about the selflessness and the sincerity of the act.

Since then, I’ve become more attuned to the world of #pinksocks and have watched pinksocks pop up all over the world. The proliferation is amazing, and you can’t attend or read about a conference where pinksocks are not ubiquitous. During HIMSS very few tweets went out without the hashtag and the photos were everywhere.

With proliferation, comes questions. I often get asked, “what’s with the socks? they are everywhere,” “who’s making money off the socks?” “what a great marketing ploy,” “I’m over it,” etc. Maybe because so many people are a part of the pinksocks tribe, some of the meaning has been diluted (a la a game of telephone). It’s a little unfortunate to hear the questions as the askers have either missed the meaning or have not asked enough questions to get behind it.

Owning a pair of pinksocks stands for something. Yes there are the cute photos, but what it stands for is caring about people, caring about the world, and not just caring about it, but getting shit done to make it as good as we can.

And that’s why socks are just socks, but the meaning can change the world.

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One Response

  1. INDEED! PINK SOCKS AS I UNDERSTAND THE CREATION ARE NOT ABOUT LURING SOMEONE TO DO BUSINESS WITH ANYONE, BUT TO SPREAD THE NOTION OF ‘LOVE AND RESPECT BEGET LOVE AND RESPECT, REGARDLESS OF ALL ELSE.
    I FOUND IT IMPOSSIBLE TO ARGUE WITH THE NOTION THAT MORE MUTUAL LOVE IN THIS WORLD IS A GOOD THING. I USED TO SAY – IF WE CAN MAKE JUST ONE OTHER PERSON HAPPIER THAN WHEN WE MET THEM, THEN THE WHOLE WORLD IS JUST THAT MUCH HAPPIER. IMAGINE IF EVERYONE DID THAT FOR ONE OTHER PERSON HOW MUCH HAPPIER AND LOVE FILLED THE WORLD WOULD BE. NO HUGE GESTURE – MY PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY FOLLOWS THE AGE OLD ADAGE THAT IT’S THE ANTS, NOT THE ELEPHANTS THAT MAKE THE DIFFERENCE.

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