I am struggling lately. I struggle with whether to tamp down what I want to express in this changing environment because an individual will invariably make a comment I don't want to associate with. Then I worry about hurting the feelings of someone I care about or inviting a harsh conversation if I delete it, and on occasion I will remove my entire post just so I don't have to make that choice - I throw my post under the bus in the name of friendship!
But I have things to say. I have seen ultimatum-type posts from others who say "That's it! No more, and if a friend I am connected to posts something that says this or that I will unfriend you, and if you don't like it, you can unfriend me now." And sometimes I've done that, because if we censor
each other for expressing concerns - as long as that happens with
thought and integrity and honesty - then who are we? Not America. If that's your preference, to disengage, I will honor that: it likely means we were not real friends anyway. But nobody puts Baby in the corner.
That's why I loved the Women's March on Washington this past weekend, magnified in so many places, inside and outside our country. And I ask you: how can these numbers, this energy, this passion not make all global citizens sit up and take notice? It was a phenomenon for these times. Bravo to those who participated and those who supported this celebration of all the things that cannot be heard, or are not possible to say, if we're stuck in the corner.
Like the people in my life who are closest to me, and those who may not be in my immediate circle of influence but are wonderful role models and leaders, I demand openness and candor and transparency...and the option to speak my mind.
Nobody gets to tell me I should shut my pie hole and look the other way when there are lies openly, flagrantly spoon-fed to a waiting public, hoping to see something different. Well, different isn't better, folks. It can be, but I don't see it. I know what I expect from a coworker, a friend or boyfriend, a boss, a leader, a colleague... I expect to have a comfort level with the way they speak and act, and to respect them even when I don't agree. That's not an unusual assumption.
So if you want me to hold my tongue on the sidelines instead of speaking out when I simply cannot bear what I see and hear, then we should part ways with no rancor. Because Baby doesn't like the corner.
© 2017 A Bit of Brie/Anitabrie
