In my mind, when Louis Armstrong sang “What a wonderful world,” he might just have been referring to an idyllic place where we can share our opinions freely.
Of course, this was probably the last thing on his mind but wouldn’t it be a wonderful world though if we didn’t have to beat around the bush and use euphemisms to express how we feel asks Cape {town} Etc’s Micayla Vellai?
Quite often, people actually ask for an opinion instead of someone randomly blurting out how they feel. Whether the person agrees with it or approves of it is another story. And even I fall victim to the occasional “excuse me, what did you say?” situation. Asking “how does this look on me” or “what do you think of this” and when it’s not up to standard, a mini rant is sure to follow.
Expectations. That’s what it comes down to, and it always seems to sting more if you ask for someone’s honest opinion. Why do we even place those two words alongside each other? We conjure up the perfect answer and take offense when it’s not to our liking. But that’s just human nature, right?
And it always seems to hurt a little more if it comes directly from a loved one. Strangers often get into it on social media, yet you’ll never lose sleep over someone who lives thousands of miles away. Personal connections makes it extremely difficult. We have this fear of telling our best friend that they shouldn’t get back together with the guy they’ve dumped 500 times already. Instead, we paint a picture of a perfect world, often to “spare feelings.”
If that’s the case each time, then are we really living our most authentic lives? Why do we have to cautiously tread on eggshells and say “Don’t take offense but…” Half of the time whenever someone starts a sentence with those four dreaded words, we usually do just that – take offense. It’s as if our bodies immediately transition into defence mode, like clockwork.
And what about those who share their opinion too often? Well, they are referred to as “strongly opinionated.” Now we’re dealing with rankings, I wonder where I’d fit. But it doesn’t end there. These “strongly opinionated” individuals are often accused of being “argumentative.”
According to MyTutor, “an opinion is usually defined as a belief or view held by an individual. It can be formed by or based upon virtually anything” which is “in stark contrast to an argument. The most important distinction is that an argument is a coherent, logical set of reasons that support an overall judgement or assessment.”
So the bigger question is: are we even free to share our opinions? Does society allow us to, freely? “Keeping the peace” is all good and well, but so is expressing yourself in your entirety, respectfully, of course. No snarl, no grudges, no foul moods – what a life that’ll be!
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Picture: Unsplash