THE CONVERSATION
I choose to believe that one day the world will prove me RIGHT.
Until then … here we are.
CONVERSATION, noun
1. General course of manners; behavior; deportment; especially as it respects morals.
Let your conversation be as becometh the gospel. Philippians 1:27.
Be ye holy in all manner of conversation 1 Peter 1:15.
2. A keeping company; familiar intercourse; intimate fellowship or association; commerce in social life. Knowledge of men and manners is best acquired by conversation with the best company.
3. Intimate and familiar acquaintance; as a conversation with books, or other object.
4. Familiar discourse; general intercourse of sentiments; chat; unrestrained talk; opposed to a formal conference.
~ Noah Webster
conversation. 2022. In Merriam-Webster.com.
Retrieved February 25, 2024, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/converation
I want to preface this article by saying I am a person who lives in a glass full, sun shining, chosen nativity, believe in you even after proven wrong, offeror of extended opportunities, embrace the smallest flower, rainbow chasing and set the moth free kind of world. Right or wrong, I choose this life for myself. Most who truly know me have repeatedly told me that I set myself up for emotional, relationship and mental failure. I choose to believe that one day the world will prove me RIGHT.
Until then … here we are.
We, as a collective society (and I do use the word collective loosely) are at, what I perceive to believe, a turning point in our journey forward. We can choose the road less traveled or the well beaten path.
We live in a colony of misinformation on loop. So much so, we are no longer able to disseminate what the real facts are unless we see them through our own eyes. Even then, there will be a source, friend, family member, and/or a stranger who will attempt to persuade us differently.
I would like to say it has only been over the last decade that we have growingly become unable to sit around a common table and discuss the events happening in the world around us. That is not true.
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How many of us were instructed that there were two topics to be avoided in an attempt to maintain peace by never discussing during family outings, work environments, and social gatherings? Politics and Religion? The two topics that have created a universe of division among us and the world we live in.
Politics and religion are the two topics that have alienated family. The two topics that created a greater divide than the outcome of conflicts … both internally and globally. The two topics that very rarely can a common ground be established let alone discussed in a calm and information seeking manner.
Since 2015, I began requesting that anyone who attends a gathering at our home not engage in topics that would create an argument within 5 minutes of beginning. Personally, I have lost “friendships” of 30 plus years over a simple, information seeking question regarding a candidate/topic during the 2016 election. I am sure that I am not alone in this fact. I have had family members and friends who have requested to not engage in discussions regarding one or both of these topics because “we respect and love each other too much.”
As we all know we are currently in another election cycle and the subject is a daunting one. Possibly a greater event stressor than in most of our lifelong years. There will be many who feel the candidate is a clear-cut answer. There will be many who will once again select “the lesser of two evils.” There will be many who attempt a mockery of the medley before us. There will be the group who chooses to sit this one out. There will be those who say “my vote will not have an impact. They are going to do what they want anyway.” Then, there will be the group who continue to scratch their heads and wonder “how did we once again get to the point that these are our best options?”
The fear I have is that we are no longer capable of welcoming the much-needed conversation. The conversation that for lifetimes we were told to never engage. The inability to interact in a discussion, the hard conversations of a necessary subject. The conversations that if we were capable of entertaining all along … possibly we wouldn’t be at this point in the game?!
The difficult point is the information we are provided to make an informed decision is not in the least bit “informed.” Where do we gather our information:
~ The internet? The internet (insert sarcasm) is not a biased source of information in the least. Companies, organizations, individuals spend a lot of time and resources to upload information to this black hole that most of us visit daily. We see information that is presented to us in our daily scrolling that appears to be accurate. Where do we check the accuracy of what we are being provided? Another internet source? How accurate is that source? What is the motivation of the company or individual behind this source?
~ The local and national news channel? The news channel which is funded by a select organization. An organization that has an agenda propagated by the behind-the-scenes donors. Whose agenda are they pushing for us to buy into? What is their end game?
~ Social Media? A source that has admitted to staging and the presenting of “facts” that assimilate based on your likes, searches, sharing of information. We should put all our eggs in this basket?
Do you see what I am getting at here? Until we are able to collectively gather back at the table, hear out our friends and family in a patient and respectful manner, “they” will continue to steer this ship. When it comes down to it, we, the American public, should be the deciding factor. The decisions which are both morally and respectively informed and accurate. The ability to discuss and hear each other out. It is our responsibility to stop and provide every effort to truly understand where another person is coming from. Remove the walls, the barriers, remove the “guided” division, and steadfast convictions long enough to walk in another’s shoes for that moment of conversation.
I had written earlier in this article that it has been stated “we respect and love each other too much.” I challenge each of us … Do we though? Or, are we all too consumed with the need to be right in our conviction that we have become incapable of hearing a challenging narrative?
In my pie-in-the-sky world, we would all find that table and begin these conversations. Whether the conversations begin among two or twenty individuals. Attempt them. Count to ten during the discussions. Take breaks. Most importantly, do not stop talking and discussing.
To quote Noah Webster once again:
“Knowledge of men and manners is best acquired by conversation with the best company.” ~ Noah Webster
“Chasing Thoughts, Creating Oneness”
February 25, 2024
~slyc
