Is it good to be misunderstood?
It has been suggested in some quarters that it is a useful thing to accept being misunderstood. Each of us ought to feel empowered enough to hold our personal spaces without having to account to anyone else for the way we are, or the choices we make.
This doesn’t mean one should avoid meeting people, or having experiences that are different from those we are used to.
Sometimes, one finds oneself in situations where there are expectations that people feel, think or behave similarly, based on a premise that could be regarded as flimsy. Politics, religion, culture, race or gender based alliances can often encourage attitudes of this sort.
Being seen or heard as one’s authentic self is likely to attract curiosity, since no one can fully fit into an ideal image as created by others.
When folks who lead organisations refer to their aims of encouraging diversity, is there any yardstick for measuring how far they are willing to go in doing so?
First published on www.juwonogungbe.com on December 31st 2019
