There’s a constant dichotomy I live in. I ride between the lines of enjoyment and suffering, love and hate, knowledge and ignorance. Maybe that’s how life is. But it feels as if more and more people think that this dichotomy means that they have to commit to one side. And rue the other until their dying breath. For so many people, it’s like torture to admit their wrongness. To acknowledge that they can be politically correct today and embarrassingly ignorant yesterday. That those two truths don’t make you lesser; it means you’re learning while you live.

There seems to be a constant battle of proving that the person across from you is wrong, stupid, and the worst parts of humanity instead of just admitting ‘you have a point.’ And it doesn’t even need to be every single point – just one. To me, it’s not difficult to say ‘you may be right about that.’ Because I don’t know everything, yet I feel surrounded by people who pretend like they do. Just that simple acknowledgment is what I think will save us. Recognizing nuance in people and things outside ourselves. Not being so combative. People are so quick to label their opposition these days. How do you have productive conversation by doing this? We used to analyze all parts of an argument and work towards understanding. Now I feel like so many people pinpoint one part of an argument and die on that hill.

Whether it’s ego, pride, or refusal to see each other, I hope things change. Because one of the best feelings in the world is knowing you’re speaking to someone who doesn’t feel the need to prove but simply yearns to understand.