A Lesson in Respect
WHAT A PAST FEW DAYS!
So recent theme of life has been respect. Respecting the opinions of others, having conversations and discussions, and mature considerations of differing opinions.
I’ve seen it play out in different ways, one that had someone direct a smamry comment at me, and me responding in a way that didn’t meet them where they were at…and then when my new hire said that Prince “looks gross” and that she found his music to not be very good.
I COULDN’T BREATHE.
But then I was completely fascinated because I’d never heard that before!
I pressed for more specific reasons and found that she actually had valid ones. (Generally he often wasn’t a nice person at all…and her evidence was being friends with people who had personally worked with him at different points in his career). Her specific examples she cited were ones I knew him to have done often as well so I couldn’t even say anything…even knowing why he was that way didn’t really help her opinion because of the way she approaches ethics…and she also can’t separate the man from the work…again a valid position to have.
The most interesting part of all this is that I was not threatened AT ALL by her opinion of him. It didn’t upset me. I didn’t judge her for it. I asked her to clarify her reasons and I 100% respect them. For me what she sees as repulsive, I simply identify with and understand. Not even because of a “purple fragility” thing, (I do not disagree that he can 100% come across as cruel, ruthless, mean, etc…that’s actually part of the appeal because it’s honest and unfiltered) it’s more that for me I don’t “not like” anyone. It’s like who am I to judge someone? I don’t know what they’ve been through to make them the way they are…and it’s presumptuous to assume you know the motivation behind any action, good or bad. As I always say, how you see someone, or how you perceive anything is based on the tint of the glasses you are looking through.
But the conversations did make me think again about why I am such a big admirer of him..and again, just like anything it doesn’t really have anything to do with him at all per say, it’s about me. Again I see A TON of me when I look at him. Not in a “his songs speak to my soul” way, but the stories and how he interacted with people…again even at his worst, I don’t see that as cruel. I GET it…and sometimes, I’ve DONE that myself…or thought it..and it’s like I admire him a lot because he doesn’t stuff that kind of stuff down…he embraces it in an honest way. You get what you get, deal with it or get left, you know?
The mirror of P has changed me considerably in the past few years because I have seen my own behavior reflected back at me and what can happen if you don’t address certain things. I’m still dealing with some of that, but I am MUCH more aware of those things now through my exploration of him…and I appreciate the uptick on my self awareness…that I do have to in some way credit him for.
I mean I’ll take it from here, but…thanks for the assist, P.
