Context, Meaning and Heated Discussions

Deep in thought, partway into a relaxation, and a mental purging of the events gaining steam and momentum, it hits me.

Folks feel that they must be heard, that their frustration is due to not being heard. I ponder this and feel myself rising above it all, as sometimes happens, for that eagle eye view, for that place beyond worldly noises and sights. From that perch, I survey this mess. I see the beauty and kindness squandered by cynical mockery and practices of cruelty.

It comes to my attention that there is a glaring mistake made by so many of the people engaging in these massive struggles for justice. I notice, context is key. It is the key to unlocking the closed minds of those we push up against. In so many cases, reading a brief message on a sign held up in a march, or heated debates online, the context for the opinions and messages is lost, while being pushed forward into the loudness and fierceness of the opposition.

So much is lost amidst all of this because the context for many arguments and potential solutions are buried underneath the emotions and panicked energy. For example, a feminist might attempt to convince a person about the civil right that is a woman's right to choose. This sensible message is so often taken out of context in order to be destroyed that many people have abandoned the viewpoint altogether.

We do not all laugh at the same jokes, we do not all cry at the same tragedies. There are infinitely varied viewpoints and we cannot agree on definitions of words, like the word "feminism". We are so often presented with information that is so wildly out of context that we reject it, but in reality, we have not properly understood what we have heard or read, so rejecting it is a premature reaction. This is the song and dance of the modern debate. Definitions of terms that we all accept to be understood when they truly are not, and information taken entirely out of context, this is the name of the game.

What I have shared with you here, is what the eagle eye's view has given me. I encourage you to fly above it all to see what you see.