And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. ~ Kahlil Gibran



Monday, August 27, 2007

On Being Opinionated

I am. Opinionated, that is. However, I have noticed that I have a tendency to not express my opinions to the general public. I don't actually share my opinions with people I know well, either. My mom is probably choking on her tea right now, but it's the truth. Back in my teenage days of writing angst-ridden poetry, one of the few poems I wrote that I still think is worth the ink I used on it deals with this issue. I'd post it, but I don't have it memorized and the journal I wrote it in is in storage.

(How many "it's" and "in's" can I cram into a sentence, anyway?)

I have the utmost respect for other people's opinions. Even when I think they are dead wrong, I hate to tell them so. After all, doesn't that give them the right to tell me I'm full of bologna, too? I really don't like to argue, especially when there is no way to win. (Mom, you had better just put that tea down until you are done reading this). I learned early on that no matter how logical your arguments, no matter how clear your delivery, no one is going to change their opinion just because yours is different. Not only this, but most people are incapable of understanding that just because you believe differently it does not necessarily follow that you are wrong.

I have been thinking lately that my policy of "don't ask, don't tell" is wearing a little thin. I have become the person that people feel they can just rant and rave to because I won't say boo about it. I just listen, whether I agree or not. Sometimes I feel like I am not even sure what my opinions are after listening to someone speak with conviction for a while.

Maybe it would be fun to just send some of my opinions out there into the great void of the web. See what happens.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Alright - who's the imposter pretending to be my daughter?

Anonymous said...

I'm de-lurking here long enough to say -- Amen Sister!
I'm all for the right to having opinions, as long as you're not cruel about it, but seriously, wouldn't the world be a more harmonious place if we just accepted that folks aren't going to change what they believe - like you said. It would be nice if we could all say what we feel and then just agree to disagree... You know? I'm an atheist, my friends are all believers and we have some pretty intense conversations sometimes, but we're still friends.
I have really strong opinions too, but I don't want to get into a war of words -- unless it's seriously important to be.
But by all means, put your opinions out there! It's your blog! If people don't like it, they'll tell you! You can always delete them.... heh.