I had a really insightful thought today: Considering actions without context is a lot like looking at a zoomed-in picture of a gelato. The gelato may be melting, evidenced by a smooth top layer. The paper cup holding it together might have a plastic spoon poking up like a light tower on a rocky beach. You might recognize the color and associate it with a flavor like pistachio or chocolate. Hell, for all you know, that green could be matcha or mint and the brown could coffee or grape depending on how the light hits it. But what’s important is not the gelato, it’s the people sitting at the table laughing or crying; it’s the cobblestone street and wild array of colored flowers on a vendor’s wooden cart; it’s the name of the shop painted above the windows of the second floor where a family has lived through two world wars— “Gelato di Brunetti”— and the young man studying on an antique metal table on the far left corner while his sister takes selfies with the tourists. Its the scent of the cool ocean air coupled with breezes offering hints of espresso, chocolate, and pistachios. It’s the blue sky with clouds lurking nearby, hinting towards a storm that is either en route, has past, or will skip passed this small world all together. It’s the beggar on the street corner— the artist’s way of showing the hidden elements of joy— with a sign that reads, “Can you spare a kind word?” Children play with green and pink balls in the town square while a man in a wheelchair watches: youthful life meets illness and death.
People do not come “as they are.” They do not act in a vacuum. People have baggage. Whether that baggage is being tugged around on a string attached to an old Ralph’s cart, carried like a boulder on the shoulders, or gently following along like a Tumi, is a matter of attitude and perseverance. But how we decide to judge another human’s actions is a direct reflection of how we judge ourselves. Be kind to yourself and the people you love, dislike, and hate because emotions are fleeting. Our reactions do not exist in a vacuum and the perceived weight of the stories in our carts, on our shoulders, and in our ridiculously overpriced luggage is proportional to the degree with which we consider context before reaction.
Give love when others expects hate. Maybe hate is all they know. Show kindness when cruelty is anticipated. It could be that cruelty is the only response that person knows how to solicit.
