Has anyone else felt the United States hasn't been very United lately?
This isn't just a national phenomenon, it's state-wide, it's local, it's small families. People blame the politics, the history, the rich, that one guy, Obama? But I feel the division is more personal. Systemic racism is only one of many forms of conditioned, unconscious manipulation that members of society have suffered the results of. Nationalism, protectionism, arrogance in State's pride, small and disproportional declaration of rule - these are examples of publicly funded ideas that encourage thought-behavior patterns ingraining what I call a perception-stamp.
Imagine our minds like a passport.
We have access to travel and learn the whole world - our neighbors, small business owners, peers. Each time we visit a new place, our passport is stamped, often times unconsciously. That stamp is our perception, how we view the world. The new place we visit is the new content we hear from either media, book, or person. Our perception is stamped, or imprinted, with these new ideas and opinions that our mind is always trying to organize and process to make sense to us, or I, or you, non-collectively, but very much in an isolated processing. Often times we don't give ourselves the space to understand what we are absorbing.
We all travel to different places, but many of us don't stray too far from home or we find ourselves returning home. It's easier to connect to those whose passport looks like our own. Many people decide their perception of something before taking space resulting in perception-stamps that favour certain ideas that we identify with, losing the open mind we all want. When certain ideas are discussed and adopted, they soon become thought patterns, behavioral practices, verbal practices.
A famous someone once coined the phrase, "practice makes perfect," but this is untrue.
A wise man will say, "No, practice makes habit," and habits, when rooted in dependencies, are addictions when they begin to negatively affect life.
As stated, our passports are stamped very differently. Instead of connecting with others whose passports look like yours, I encourage you to get to know the other guy.
We won't find Unity until we understand each other's passports, or perception-stamps, and respect them. As individuals, we must learn to sit in one another's presence in conversation with a level of tolerance and much curiosity.
"Why do they/I/we think this way? Why do they/I/we feel this way? What is it that we have in common? How do we reach mutual understanding? What is an objective agreement that which we all will benefit from the need of?"
Ask Questions. To yourself, to others.
That's compassion. That's empathy. A connection between differences. That's how we come to understanding, not agreement, but a state of mutual respect. We need this communication and respect in order to build steppingstones in the right direction of social and economic growth for our communities.
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