The divisiveness that plagues our society is perpetuated by leftist and rightist social media coverage, journalism and a host of movements. Daily, we seem to be frequently pitted against one another. At best, to express our opinion on the political, social or moral issues of the day, and at worst, spoon fed opinions on how to think and react. Whether it is capitalism, environmentalism, wokism or vaccines; the general public digests the current topic in the media and decides if they are ‘for’ or ‘against’ it. Surveys are taken across the demographic and the tide of public opinion is delivered. All any of these media partisans and vocal protesters only serve to drive a wedge between families, communities, races and nations.

We see with our eyes but we feel with our hearts. We should give ourselves credit to know the difference between outer appearance and our gut reaction. In other words, just because a person identifies with a specific gender, race, political party or movement does not make them any less of a human. In fact, all shades of behaviour, all skin tones and all genders belong under the umbrella we call humanity. Each member is a reflection of our combined psyche. Every facet of behaviour, every shade of prejudice, every cornerstone of morality resides in all of us, because if it presents itself in one part of the human race, it is present in all. Railing against another section of our community or nation indicates, not only the deep divide between humanity as a whole, but a chasm within the individual. It is this gap between understanding and compassion that we need to bridge within ourselves. When we blame, accuse or publicise our opinions against another person(s) under our human umbrella, we are levelling blame at our own shortcomings. It says ‘I cannot forgive, so therefore I must blame.’ Perhaps, this is the crux of our social divide, a lack of forgiveness and understanding for our human flaws. Revenge and retribution sit side by side in the jury that condemns our fellow human. I am not talking about heinous crimes here, but the lesser crime, albeit destructive, of judging and blaming others because we are unable to process our reaction and emotions to any given situation or event.

It is our duty to actively contribute to the evolution of humanity as a whole. If we are not to self-destruct, we must take responsibility for our emotions, including our anger, guilt, judgement and arrogance. We must seek out what unites us rather than what divides us. If we read or hear something that someone has done to upset us, feel that feeling fully. We need to allow our inner response mechanism to surface in an emotionally intelligent way. We must own the feeling rather than projecting it onto those around us, or using the social media’s story of the day to vent our inner frustration. By taking responsibility for our emotional reaction in any given situation, we are not only displaying emotional intelligence, but we are contributing to our evolution of consciousness as a species. The world, and our precious planet will be all the better for it.

Collette O’Mahony

12/03/2021