“The best lack all conviction, while the worst/Are full of passionate intensity,” says William Butler Yeats in “The Second Coming.” Well, I’ve been one of the worst, caught up in rants after reading assorted sides of this week’s trending topic on Facebook. I have gotten riled to the extreme with things I want to say, but don’t dare, vibrating so much I have spouted off at friends, lost them or they lost me. I wish we could find a way to listen to each other without words like hammers.
These days we fancy ourselves political and cultural commentators. We post memes, articles and opinions telling our followers what we think. I have wanted to say, “Wait a minute. Have you considered the other side?” But I keep scrolling until I’m in a snit and spout off at Bruce, who walks out.
Maybe I don’t have to entertain everyone’s opinions, especially if they come, one right after another, the words mean or preachy or one sided. I can un-follow people. I can block offensive memes. I can check that high whine of passionate intensity, maybe venting it in my journal, knowing that no good comes from rants. I don’t want to turn this anger into a habit and I don’t think political commentary is my strong suit. When Facebook has gotten intense, it’s the quiet statuses that offer a breath of relief. That’s what I want for my readers.
I’m Katie Andraski and this is my perspective.
If you’d like to listen to this, go here.
https://medium.com/@SeanBlanda/the-other-side-is-not-dumb-2670c1294063#.m73yi1ht5
Katie, good advice for us all. We don’t have to get caught up in others’ passionate intensity that is not open to other perspectives. That will be particularly important in this presidential election year. Let others rant and rave while we try to maintain a quiet and balanced state of mind!
Thank you for this response and great advice back to me. I got caught up in the controversy about the Hammonds, who were sent to jail under a minimum sentence for terrorism, so didn’t exactly follow my own advice. I did have two fruitful conversations with people who wanted to understand. I dove into one status, that I should have let pass. And then others dove into a post I made. So I need this advice too…