That which we do not understand may seem to us to be incongruous. Could there be more to the story?
Understanding, is it me or does it seem to be in short supply today? Then we have assumptions, we all make them.
Unfortunately, based on our assumptions, we often come to conclusions without understanding the full story. In the realm of disabilities, assumptions can be particularly venomous.
When we don’t meet certain ‘expectations’ weird things can happen and we may find ourselves on the receiving end of a tongue lashing. For example, a wheelchair may signal to us the user is unable to stand or walk when this may not be the case at all.
There is no “all or nothing” approach to disabilities. Yet we mistreat people with disabilities because we fail to understand their individual situation.
In today’s climate, it is so easy to have our say with a couple of keystrokes. I sometimes think we forget the targets of our comments are human.
Social media furthers misunderstandings partly due to the following reasons:
- We don’t read an entire message
- We take it out of context
- We believe something simply because it’s published
Bold Blind Beauty believes for us to transcend barriers we need to change the way we perceive one another. The only way to achieve this goal is by sharing our stories, and being out here living our lives to shift the narratives.
Change begins with us. If we can acknowledge we don’t understand all things or all people perhaps we can open the door to learning.
Why don’t we begin with what we share in common, our humanness? We all have flaws and are not perfect. We have biases, thoughts, feelings, opinions, and pride.
Like individual threads in a tapestry, each of us is different. By ourselves, we can be colorful. However, when woven together we can create a beautiful picture telling a different story.