It was one of those days. Having a phone conversation and heard words pop out of my mouth that left me feeling startled, “What did you say?! YOU didn’t!”
I DID, somehow having breached my “do you really want to say this” sentry. (Was she asleep?) Do I fall back on my oft-used excuse, “I’m human?” Is being human a permission slip to verbally treat another person as unfit for consideration, without worth, or an object of derision (which my sentry, since she was, apparently, napping did not stop me from doing.)
I have strong feelings about the power of words and their capacity to support or hurt others. Strong feelings. Words of contempt seem to reign supreme these days on social media, in letters to the editor, and on TV. Oodles of contempt, spread widely, across the belief spectrum. I find it downright painful to see and hear we humans, consciously, doing this to each other.
This?? The denigrating, disrespecting, and disparaging comments about others that I hear or see on media.
Oh, that. Ouch.
And-it’s-contagious.
Wait, wait, haven’t we heard enough about contagion to last a lifetime? Oh no, do I really want to hear this?!
You’re a big girl now, Jan - you can do it! I know you can.
Proceeding….
Contempt is, indeed, contagious, like the flu. It can spread from one person to the next, to the next, often based on just one exposure. And that one exposure, just that one exposure to contempt, can stimulate my hostile behavior toward others. Eeek! “We each have a much bigger effect on one another’s emotions than we might think .”
Stop! Stop! I don’t want to be a serial carrier of the contempt virus. Ah, but there’s hope, truly. The c-word, contempt, has held center stage long enough. I’d like to introduce a new prime player to center stage, and it’s another c-word. Choice.
I can make the choice, instance by instance, not to be a conveyor of contempt. Yes, I’ll still be human and hear occasional denigrating and scornful comments in my mind. (Oh, heck, my humanity is always a work in progress.) But must I share those thoughts beyond my mind’s corridors? I have to exist within my own skin. (You, too?) Being a carrier of contempt, gettin’ those serial hostilities rolling outward to all of you, is something with which I’d prefer not to live.
If this post speaks to you, feel free to share.
MEA TOO! I’ve been allowing another’s judgement of me, to rent space in my head as I too, in turn, judge them equally as harsh. Although covid may not be as deadly as it once was, the fallout from it still lingers everywhere. Thank you for this! I’m choosing to put up a “No Space For Rent” sign in the cartoon bubble over my head from here on out and choose better feeling thoughts. ❤️