This is thought provoking and compelling - the part about cognitive dissonance had me thinking about how capitalism structurally (and technology by extension) offers very few options for what to do in that moment. There are an infinite array of actions to take, to your point, and we need to keep paying attention to the data and doing something productive with it in ourselves.
Ms. Hurley- Hall, I would like to throw in my two cents on learning from cognitive dissonance(CD). One way is to resolve CD simply change your view on the concept in question to considered. That takes tolerance and accepting thing as they are and not for what we want them to be. To have tolerance, you have to have a measure of empathy. To be willing to learn from our mistakes and look at different perspectives. Empathy is the antithesis to CD and the mental anguish it can cause. Empathy requires tolerance, while CD requires intolerance.
As to how this relates to racism, you are much more qualify than me to comment. My comments pale to your voice on anti- racism.
And so I was relating this experience to people within a facilitation space, and you could almost see the wheels turning, because this was something they had never had to think about. This idea of who takes up space, who stands their ground, who moves aside? Right, and that was definitely a very powerful moment of cognitive dissonance that made people decide, okay, I'm going to make an effort to be aware of this, to be aware of my complicity in this, to try to change how I show up and the space that I create for others to take up space.”
As a woman of spare height I've experienced this. It's clearly not fully the same, but I can relate as taller people, which is most, will walk right by, bump into me, etc. As for cognitive dissonance, it is from that dissonance that we learn.
In the mid 90s I read a book that woke me up to the “invisible” feelings, the cognitive dissonance, of the experience of Blackness in a world of white power- the book was PUSH by Sapphire. It was the hardest book I’ve ever read emotionally. It taught me how important it was to find humanity in differences by making eye contact. As I look at my own journey from awakening to understanding to anti racism I see this book now as one of the more foundational texts in my learning experience. I get so much out of your newsletters Sharon. I continue to be hopeful about the future as long as we are actively working to make it equitable. Xox
I am thinking about the word you use - “activism” and see that it has a certain connotation - an outwardness activity by some. But I am brought to consider that what you say here: “...there are some people that believe that if they're not doing it, so called "right" or they make a mistake, then it's time to back away altogether. Because of that moment of cognitive dissonance, this idea that they're not who they thought they were, whereas my attitude is, do something rather than nothing. Accept that you might occasionally get it wrong. When you do get it wrong, apologise, repair the harm, and keep going because it's something that we have to keep working on. And so we can use those moments of cognitive dissonance as catalysts for growing our awareness and moving to act in a different way.” - You’re challenging me to see if I can inside myself convert this willingness to recognize and accept my failings, adjust my perspective with the recognition that comes with what has been revealed to me and then move on with new eyes - internalizing “activism” - and making it to be something happening within myself.
Thank you for sharing and thank you for teaching.
This is thought provoking and compelling - the part about cognitive dissonance had me thinking about how capitalism structurally (and technology by extension) offers very few options for what to do in that moment. There are an infinite array of actions to take, to your point, and we need to keep paying attention to the data and doing something productive with it in ourselves.
Ms. Hurley- Hall, I would like to throw in my two cents on learning from cognitive dissonance(CD). One way is to resolve CD simply change your view on the concept in question to considered. That takes tolerance and accepting thing as they are and not for what we want them to be. To have tolerance, you have to have a measure of empathy. To be willing to learn from our mistakes and look at different perspectives. Empathy is the antithesis to CD and the mental anguish it can cause. Empathy requires tolerance, while CD requires intolerance.
As to how this relates to racism, you are much more qualify than me to comment. My comments pale to your voice on anti- racism.
And so I was relating this experience to people within a facilitation space, and you could almost see the wheels turning, because this was something they had never had to think about. This idea of who takes up space, who stands their ground, who moves aside? Right, and that was definitely a very powerful moment of cognitive dissonance that made people decide, okay, I'm going to make an effort to be aware of this, to be aware of my complicity in this, to try to change how I show up and the space that I create for others to take up space.”
As a woman of spare height I've experienced this. It's clearly not fully the same, but I can relate as taller people, which is most, will walk right by, bump into me, etc. As for cognitive dissonance, it is from that dissonance that we learn.
In the mid 90s I read a book that woke me up to the “invisible” feelings, the cognitive dissonance, of the experience of Blackness in a world of white power- the book was PUSH by Sapphire. It was the hardest book I’ve ever read emotionally. It taught me how important it was to find humanity in differences by making eye contact. As I look at my own journey from awakening to understanding to anti racism I see this book now as one of the more foundational texts in my learning experience. I get so much out of your newsletters Sharon. I continue to be hopeful about the future as long as we are actively working to make it equitable. Xox
I am thinking about the word you use - “activism” and see that it has a certain connotation - an outwardness activity by some. But I am brought to consider that what you say here: “...there are some people that believe that if they're not doing it, so called "right" or they make a mistake, then it's time to back away altogether. Because of that moment of cognitive dissonance, this idea that they're not who they thought they were, whereas my attitude is, do something rather than nothing. Accept that you might occasionally get it wrong. When you do get it wrong, apologise, repair the harm, and keep going because it's something that we have to keep working on. And so we can use those moments of cognitive dissonance as catalysts for growing our awareness and moving to act in a different way.” - You’re challenging me to see if I can inside myself convert this willingness to recognize and accept my failings, adjust my perspective with the recognition that comes with what has been revealed to me and then move on with new eyes - internalizing “activism” - and making it to be something happening within myself.