Pistis wonders
where are the other voices‽ (weekending May 20th 2023)
Recently some views and opposition to
them seem particularly heightened not least from conference[i] podiums[ii] and
via other media[iii]…
·
‘Twitriol’ (‘Twitter’ plus vitriol - is this a word? could it become a viral
‘#’?) has perhaps seemed at least as high as usual with plenty of daily /
hourly / minutely / secondly disharmony (at best)
·
‘Qualificautionary’[iv] language has possibly been limited
·
COWPATs[v] may have seemed to be in abundance
So, this weekending, ‽istis is
wondering where are other voices‽
Voices (in no particular order) of:
· compassion
· kindness
· acknowledgement
· appreciation
· reasoning
· self-awareness
· reasonableness
· empathy
· understanding complexity
· nuance
· regret
· mediation
· trauma- and pain-informed
· bridge-building
· condolence
· consensus-creating
· caution
· those affected as much as those effecting
· championing
· inclusion
· exploring cause
· doubt
· mitigation
· invitation
· aetiology
· amelioration
· looking for the best
· solution-focus
· recognition
· humility
· apology
· acknowledgement that this might just be an opinion
· evidence-informedness
· hope
· participation
· people more often minoritised
· the more usually voiceless
And ‽istis wonders where is the
silence and the active listening, the 2:1 balance of ears to mouth - a possible
golden ratio of communication and dialogue?
Two words from the list above have
caught ‽istis’ attention in particular:
·
Mitigation: ‘the act of reducing how harmful, unpleasant, or bad something
is’[vi]
·
Amelioration: ‘the process of making a bad or unpleasant situation better’[vii]
Two words with similar meaning and
while it may be difficult to agree on ‘problem-locus’[viii], or
‘problem-analysis’, or ‘nature-and-extent-of-problem-and-for-whom analysis’, or
‘cause-of-problem analysis’ let alone ‘solution focus’[ix] - surely it could
help to commit to improving the way we listen and talk to each other about all
the apparently tricky and emotive stuff‽
And ‽istis wonders whether through a
transformed process, we might somehow find ourselves heading just a little more
towards outcomes that are just a little more transformative and positive for
just a lot more of us‽
©‽istis
NB: further
reflections and comments linked to this week’s theme and past blog entries to
be found on Twitter: replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily indicate
approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders. ‘Follows’
and respectful comment and dialogue welcome...
[i] For example: the National
Conservatism Conference: https://nationalconservatism.org/natcon-uk-2023/
[ii] Should that be podia‽, before
anyone starts a ‘pile on’…
[iii] For example ‘Newsnight’ towards
the end of last week, actually - featuring Alistair Campbell:
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/bbc-newsnight-alastair-campbell-victoria-derbyshire-alex-phillips-brexit_uk_645df699e4b03e16f1a2633a
[iv] Coined in a previous blog in
October 2021:
https://pistisrec.blogspot.com/2021/10/pistis-daydreams-manifesto-weekending.html
[v] Coined in a previous blog in June
2020: COWPATs - Constructs or Opinions Which may Present As Truth/s…
https://pistisrec.blogspot.com/2020/06/pistis-reclaims-cowpats-weekending-june.html
[vi]
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/mitigation
[vii]
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/amelioration
[viii] Or should that be loci‽ (or
even locuses or even locusts?)
[ix] Or should that be foci‽
