I have tried to write this blog at least 3 times.
And at least 3 times, I have deleted everything I’d written and started again.
I am having a hard time, you see, because I am angry.
I usually try to keep both my blogs and my social media posts positive. Focus on the healing, the uplifting thoughts, the looking at things through a different lens. And I have been trying to do that here.
But I am angry.
And so I am having a harder time than usual doing so.
What I have witnessed in these last days has made me angry. And it has come from a variety of sources, in a variety of ways… It has nothing to do with politics or public outrage, though it has come from there as well…
My question to all of you is… why do we shame?
Shaming others does nothing but make us feel superior at the expense of someone else’s self-worth.
Shaming does not solve problems.
Shaming does not end wars.
Shaming does not prove a point or accomplish goals.
It is simply a tool to make someone feel better while making someone else feel worse.
And the amount of shaming I have witnessed these last days makes me sick.
I understand people are upset. About politics. About life circumstances. About unfairness. About things not going the way you expected them to. About all the things that people are upset about today.
And you have every right to be upset.
You have every right to express your opinion.
You have every right to stand up for your beliefs.
You have every right to fight for and defend what you believe in. To have open discussions. To share knowledge. To unite in one voice and speak what needs to be spoken.
You do NOT, however, have the right to hurt someone else in order to do so.
It makes you no better than the opposition you claim to be fighting.
Just because someone may not be as vocal as you are about an issue does not make them the enemy.
Just because someone does not stand in your echo chamber does not make them wrong.
Just because there is ignorance does not give permission for your arrogance.
Just because you don’t agree with the lifestyle choices of your ex does not give you the right to bash them publicly on social media.
Just because you did not enjoy a form of entertainment does not give you the right to attack the creators and showrunners who did the best they could with what they had to work with. It is their show. It is their choice.
You can have your opinions. You can express those opinions. You can act in the interest of those opinions.
But shaming someone else, making them feel worthless or hopeless simply because your arrogance feels that it is the only one who is right is NOT the way to get it done.
It is not through shame that we are going to change this world… it is through love.
What would happen if we came at everything from a place of love instead of a place of outrage or hate?
What would happen if we could calmly, and intelligently, express opposing views and work together to reach a compromise that works for everyone?
What would happen if we showed appreciation for the hard work that people put in to their life and the things that they provide for us?
What would happen if we stopped our shouting to be heard and actually silenced ourselves for a moment in order to listen?
What would happen if we chose love instead of shame? Instead of hate? Instead of our insatiable need to be “right” all the time?
What wonders would happen then?
I think we may just finally make this world a better place.
…But then again… that’s just one opinion.
