Imagine if we heard the stories and the stories behind the stories before we formed an opinion. We know that nothing and no one exists in isolation. There are layers and layers of stories behind every action and every consequence.
Language and stories are how we communicate. And yet, having been granted this incredible gift, it is a tragedy that individually and collectively we forget how to listen.
With all the incredible brain power we have to create such things as Artificial Intelligence for example, we have not come so far from the prehistoric creatures we evolved from that we can break free of the bonds of our 'tribal' collectives of country, religion, ideology, culture and values that we make into our worldview lens on which we base our "knowledge".
The less we know, the more we can learn
The less we talk the more we can hear,
The less we judge, the more we can understand
The more we question our beliefs the bigger our world gets and the more possibility we have to grow our stories beyond the limits and constraints we are existing within.
Stories are the path that we can take to make decisions based on compassion and empathy rather than dogma and distancing.
Today's rant was inspired by this event in the news this week:
Kimberly Squirrel, a 34-year-old mother of six could have been alive today if her family had been told she was being released from prison in January, according to her sister, Kara Squirrel.
Instead, Kimberly's frozen body was found in a residential area of Saskatoon the night of Jan. 23, just three days after she'd been released from the Pine Grove Correctional Centre, near Prince Albert, about 160 kilometres northeast of the city.
"Imagine"(from "Imagine: John Lennon" soundtrack)Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today... Aha-ah...
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace... You...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world... You...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
(The following was the draft before modifying to the above message)
“Facts, opinions, and value statements push people apart, stories bring people together.”
It is interesting what we think we know. In my opinion it would be very hard to live without filtering everything we hear through our opinion, however, that would be one way we could hear news and facts out of context and not judge them.
The other way would be to ask for the stories and then more stories and know that nothing and no one exists in isolation. There are layers and layers of stories behind every action and every consequence and there is not one of us humans living now or who ever lived who has not contributed to these layers.
Language and stories are how we communicate. And yet, having been granted this incredible gift, it is a tragedy that individually and collectively we forget how to listen.
With all the incredible brain power we have to create such things as Artificial Intelligence for example, we have not come so far from the prehistoric creatures we evolved from that we can break free of the bonds of our 'tribal' collectives of country, religion, ideology, culture and values that we make into our worldview lens on which we base our "knowledge".
The less we know, the more we can learn
The less we talk the more we can hear,
The less we judge, the more we can understand
The more we question our beliefs the bigger our world gets and the more possibility we have to grow our stories beyond the limits and constraints we are existing within and the less complicit and more responsibility we will take for the human and environmental atrocities that we are committing.
Stories are the path that we can make decisions based on compassion and empathy rather than dogma and distancing.
Today's rant was inspired by this event in the news this week (the ripples of stories that caused and are impacted by this are infinite):
Kimberly Squirrel, a 34-year-old mother of six could have been alive today if her family had been told she was being released from prison in January, according to her sister, Kara Squirrel.
Instead, Kimberly's frozen body was found in a residential area of Saskatoon the night of Jan. 23, just three days after she'd been released from the Pine Grove Correctional Centre, near Prince Albert, about 160 kilometres northeast of the city.
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