Internal Censors

The world tells us what is acceptable. What we can say is a function of how much politics (small p) has corrupted the topic or how little caring the audience is feeling. Double standards and status definitions inhibit, prohibit or allow comments to range from obscure to offensive. People pleasing or people pestering position propositions.

For many folks the internal censor alarm is set way too high and they say everything that enters their head without consideration for how it makes them look or how it might make someone else feel. For others the switch seems so sensitive as to preclude them from saying anything at all.

Finding a rich balance of meaningful and respectful conversation is difficult. I have had advice that I should only speak my mind if I would say it to my grandmother. My grandma was a firebrand activist with a caring heart and firm convictions so that might work for me but what if she had been a tea teetotaler, or milk toast and timid?

Taking a chance has worked for me. Saying something that is troubling me has lead to great learning or remarkable discussions. Either I found the line of offense and apologized or moved the line and found an unimagined new idea. I once started a presentation with ” I would like to apologize for any offense I may cause but that wouldn’t be true”. The statement got the audience’s attention but some didn’t hear anything else I said. It also wasn’t true for while I want to provoke, encourage, inspire I really don’t want to offend.

make Today Remarkable, by walking on bothe sides of the line,

B