consistently contradictory
May 22, 2014 § 11 Comments
Sameness seems an impossible standard, the only consistency change. I evolve into each new experience, moving through a new unknown holding tightly to self while searching for an uncertain other. This journey from surety through doubt loops the past and present in winding contradictory circles; linking me in a place of paused humility even as I move toward knowing.
With age I have come to error intimately, holding my principles more privately; voicing questions and suggestions in place of statements. On the occasion I lean into an opinion, I look toward opposition for harmony. I have become less invested in feeling correct over understood, more welcoming of my own uncertainty and others’ conviction.
I find these moments of insight in my children’s questions and certainties, friends’ opinions, and strangers’ voices; exchanges that challenge assumptions and lend perspective. This morning I am thinking of the good fortune and grace that accompanies each lesson, the beauty within each opportunity to grow.
scribblechic 
That place of paused humility is as necessary as it is uncomfortable sometimes . . . a good reminder for me.
Uncomfortable is a great sensory word for that experience.
Living in a society often ……….. bitten lips and words unspoken.
Silence is a powerful language.
Sometimes…….
I wish that many others would also try to seek understanding rather than control. So true…
Conversations over arguments, compassion over conceit.
affliction and affection goes hand in hand
true..
Life is a riddle of dichotomy.
“I have become less invested in feeling correct over understood, more welcoming of my own uncertainty and others’ conviction.”
I am impressed that, even as you grow more comfortable with your own lack of certainty, you don’t demand the same from others. It’s as though you’ve taken tolerance to another level.
Charles, my tolerance is proportional to respect. I am learning to allow others their folly and forgive transgressions in search of personal peace. It is an imperfect practice.