Some days I wake up wondering what I’ll write about today. But yesterday, my post about re-writing language resulted in such a fascinating discussion, I knew what I needed to write about today. This was because one of the many perspectives shared was how I missed that the word “master” implies oppression. Someone even said that because I missed that, they “were clearly participating in the wrong group.” Certainly, oppression is one of the meanings of the word “master.” Yet, according to a thesaurus there are over 236 other synonyms for the multiple meanings of the word! All this clearly proves there is plenty of room for communication breakdowns…or build-ups depending upon your openness to other perspectives.

Words have many meanings and the accompanying tones and expressions with which they are said add to the complexity of communication. In a blog, I have only 2,200 characters (including spaces!) to explore a topic. 

This now brings me to the point of today: Communication in our lives and certainly on social media would improve if we all acknowledged that words do have many meanings. SO, when we hear a word, it would be helpful to remember that, just maybe, it wasn’t meant to offend us.  Maybe by being a bit less defensive and less assumptive that another is “out to hurt us” — while taking the beat along with a deep breath — we can see that others are not all walking around ready to attack & offend. Perhaps instead, we’re all “humans being,” and we are all learning that we each see, hear, act, understand & speak differently. AND, as I say again + again: I believe 99.99% of humans on Earth want to live peaceful, loving lives with healthy self-expressed relationships.

People are puzzling. But, perhaps, we can start a new movement of greater understanding and lead the way. As always, I love our discussions and enjoy hearing your thoughts.  

I’m @DianGriesel aka a perception analyst & strategist; creative attitude disrupter & adjuster; author of The Silver Disobedience Playbook & TurboCharged; and the blogger known as @SilverDisobedience  More info on my websites (search my name) Silver Disobedience® is a registered trademark.