In a recent essay , I talk about how ‘the other side’ to our lives often doesn’t come through in what we present and are presented (digitally or otherwise.) In it, I offer two solutions. 1) Addressing it in our own life by being more transparent and 2) Help create space for others to do the same.
One of the ways we can help create this space is by practicing consideration with words. To be mindful of their impact on other people and what they can achieve in the first place.
Personally, this is an area I often struggle with. Whether in conversation or with my essays, I have been working hard to filter my words and put them through these two checks.
More often than not, I have found there exist more compassionate ways of saying the same thing. Many-a-times I have also found that there is no point in saying something. In other words, not saying anything would achieve just as much (if not more.)
The need to do practice consideration with words has only intensified in the highly uncertain post-pandemic world. It can help us extend compassion towards other people and their multifaceted life. It can also help us conserve our energy for where it is needed more.