Resentment may judge
“I shouldn’t have to
do that.”
Wonder may ask
“I wonder what I can do
instead?”
What if Irony is Judging Others for Lacking Empathy?
Resentment may judge
“I shouldn’t have to
do that.”
Wonder may ask
“I wonder what I can do
instead?”
When we judge ourselves
as selfish,
it is often nothing more
than a symptom
of our fear of being judged
by others
as selfish.
We are only
“lost”
in relation to
where we want
to go.
If we don’t know
where we want
to go,
we may instead be
faced with an opportunity
for exploration
and play.
Unless,
of course,
we think we know
where we want
to go,
because we conflate
where we want
to go
with where we think
we should want
to go.
In which case,
we may still feel
“lost.”
“When
did you start losing
trust
in the CTO?” I asked
the CEO.
“Our 3rd co-founder
was underperforming.
He came to us one day
to explain
that his underperformance
was due
to his father’s
illness.”
he answered.
“After he left,
the CTO told me in private
that he believed
that
was just an excuse.”
he continued.
“Sure,
it may have been
an excuse.
But the 3 of us
had been friends
for 10 years
before founding
the company.
I could easily see
how the CTO
would judge me the same way
if I were in a pinch.
…
I no longer felt
she was with me.”
he concluded.
Sometimes
“weak”
is merely us judging
someone’s pain
as unworthy
of appreciation.
When a decision
leads to something
“bad,”
we call it
“wrong.”
Until the same decision
leads to something
“good.”
Then
we call it
the “best.”
Gratitude
is an emotion.
Indebtedness
is a judgment one makes
on top of gratitude
to inject our being
with a noble burden.
One that whispers
“You must pay this back.
If you don’t,
you’re not good enough.”
A burden
that sometimes leads us
to hyper-empathize
with the person
to whom
we feel indebted.
Jim Carey once said,
he acts,
because he’s broken.
For those who judge
“brokenness”
as “bad”
may feel triggered
by that comment.
But what I learned from art,
is that if “broken” implies
1) separated in parts
or 2) producing results
that defy our expectations,
then both
are requirements
for innovation.
Because parts
must be separated
before they can be
recomposed
into a new whole.
And the kind of whole
we seek in innovation
is the kind
that defies our expectations
enough to move us
in often surprising ways.
If being broken
means that I can not only
understand and appreciate,
but also artfully express
the depth and nuance
of the human experience
in ways I could not
otherwise have,
such that I impact the world
in positive ways,
as has Jim Carey,
then broken,
I am.