We’re not crazy, just misunderstood

At what point do you sever ties with people who don’t agree with the causes you believe in?

This question has been on my mind lately, in the wake of the Buzzfeed article on anti-feminist women. My follow up blog post was a bit harsh, I admit: I wrote it “in the moment,” while the frustration was fresh, because that’s when I write best. The supportive comments that followed only fueled my fire, which is to be expected, since most of my followers only read this blog because they more or less agree with my hardheaded opinions ☺

But then, as we all know, sharing your opinions = opportunities for backlash. The responsive posts I’ve read on Facebook, and even personal messages I received have challenged me once again to remember that everyone walks a hard road that shapes their convictions. Most of us do not develop a belief system easily. Many of us have beliefs that were shaped by personal experiences; some traumatic, or life-changing in some other way. And because people own these experiences, it’s not fair to dismiss them.

Yet we all do it. Don’t lie. Or at least admit that you’ve wanted to, when someone’s response to a cause you hold dear made you feel misunderstood, and the more you tried to explain yourself, the more tangled up you got until you eventually threw up your hands and said, “Fuck it,” and poured a glass of wine.

Yes, that was my day yesterday.

But today is a new day. I’d like to think I have good practice listening to differing viewpoints, given I am the only conservative in a family full of liberals, but I can always get better. I have to, for the sake of world peace.

Misunderstanding can go both directions, and it’s sometimes unfathomable to me that two people can go through the same traumatic experience and resurface with radically different viewpoints of the world as a result.

If patience is like a muscle, I definitely need to exercise more.

How do you “exercise”?