What does the script say we’re supposed to do now?
- Scene one: “They’re wrong. They’re idiots. (She’s stupid! He’s a lunatic!)”
- Scene two: We look to the machine to feed us more stories to validate we’re right. We turn deeper into our community and repeat the tales of how mistaken “they” are.
- Scene three: Our narrative of “them” becomes a myth so powerful we see it as a reality that excludes – and importantly, diminishes – “them.”
- Scene four: We go into the Holidays and whisper: At least we lived our values.
Or, do we follow a different script?
- Scene one: We refuse to give our attention to those with the loudest megaphones, the ones who need us to listen to their vitriolic rants in order to get paid. “No thank you. I believe I’ll think for myself this time.”
- Scene two: We talk with “them.” We listen. We get curious. We understand that both of us are right and both of us are wrong. We explore.
- Scene three: We share our perspective – without any conditions that they subscribe to our way of thinking.
- Scene four: We go into the Holidays knowing that the company we keep demonstrates the principles we possess.
Practicing the value of collaboration, of knowing that others have worth and it is only through acting together that we can change the next scene, is a choice that requires practice.
Your next conversation is your rehearsal.
(It’s difficult – but worth it.)
