No More Snap Judgements

In the town where I go to school there is a sculpture I do not like. It is a ring of metal sitting on a V of metal with a bent pole of metal leaning against it. From some angles it looks like a falling soda cup and from others a giant metal cause ribbon. It is placed prominently along the main drag in town and I have to look at it every day. Today I learned something that may change my feelings about the sculpture. It is the shadow the sculpture casts that is the art.

As in most things the lesson goes beyond the sculpture and its shadow. It can be easy to jump to snap judgments and write off people, places and events without really knowing what they are about. We should not hate or even dislike out of hand. As a matter of fact it is better to not have any opinion then to have a uniformed opinion. Just because society tells us that we are supposed to have a stance on everything, does not mean we do, or for that matter can. It is ok to say I do not know about that.

When we do make snap judgments we can get ourselves in trouble. We close doors that may have provided excellent opportunities to learn and grow. We also increase the estrangement of people one from another when we put up walls against liking people because of snap judgments.

I challenge you today, take a look at the snap judgments you have made and take the time to get to know people, places and things.