Most people don't think about archetypal patterns, symbolism, and the nature of the human condition. That is okay. It doesn't make me better, it makes my interests are more abstract, philosophical, and esoteric. Maybe I'm less pragmatic or detailed because of this. I know I'd make a pretty paltry CPA or basketball player. That doesn't imply better or worse. It's about priorities and focus.
There are not good and bad people. I am aware of my good qualities, faults, fragility, and errors. Being aware of conflict and opposites within me doesn't not make me undisciplined or undiscerning, it makes me comfortable with paradox and tension. Tension can create strength, stability, and integrity. Isn't that how suspension bridges work?
It's about perceptions. Different awarenesses are what makes us unique and different. Some people have a great sense of pitch, or spatial arrangement, mechanics, or color, or flavors, or of conversation. That doesn't mean if if someone can't discern the subtle flavors of a wine, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It means they don't have the physiological capacity or cultivated palette. I have really bad allergies and therefore a bad lung capacity. I will never be a professional athlete. I don't have the aptitude. Some people don't have the capacity to do higher math. That doesn't mean that calculus is not real, it is just outside of some peoples' awareness. We need each other for our different perspectives and gifts. Cultural backgrounds, local customs, religious values, and ideas on politeness, all vary and are all valid. That doesn't mean we have to agree, but we should respect where everyone is coming from.
What do you have to offer? How are you making a contribution? Where do your gifts and interests lie? Where is your perspective unique?
I'm highly sensitive to speech patterns and tonal inflections. I can often pick up on the underlying, and not overtly expressed emotional motivations of people. Sometimes I'm more aware of what someone is feeling than they are consciously. From this, at times, I respond to unconscious communication, exposing the communicator's unconscious complexes. As I mature and gain experience, I am learning to temper my responses so it doesn't blindside the person I'm interacting with. These situations have also made me hyper-vigilant, which can be exhausting. Such are the boons and challenges of being an empath or highly sensitive person, HSP.
Here's a physical example illustrating tools for precision and sensitivity. Surgical robotic nanotechnology cannot be used in the same way as a jackhammer, crane or bulldozer. These different types of tools are used for different things and have to be handled differently. They have to be calibrated using different scales. People are the same way, having different foci, gifts, and proclivities.
Some of how we act, think, and feel is conscious. Much of it is not. A lot of it is automatic programming based on habit, history, upbringing, culture, and personal comfort and awareness. We wouldn't be able to function without unconscious, reflexive filtering in our environment. In fact, the main reason senior citizens have a harder time driving is a decreased ability to filter out distractions and slower cognitive processing.
We pay attention to what we have been trained to value and ignore that which we don't have a proclivity to focus on. It shapes our reality and our perspectives. Our interests and values create our reality. One of the beauties of being human is our differences in culture, personal histories, values, and gifts. I think we all have the challenge and mandate of learning to be less egocentric and less ethnocentric. (Nonviolent Communication is a book I think everyone should read in school. Likewise, logic should be taught in high school). Active listening, communication and learning styles, valuing differences, supporting each other, and non-violent communication are all tools we can use to find common ground and peacefully coexist. We can all be activists and ambassadors in this way. It's how we can strive for humanity, dignity, compassion, and grace.
No comments:
Post a Comment