White Noise

            I've spoken on identity- who we are, a result of all the individual little qualities that come together in combinations, configurations. Put simply, the traits that are parts of our wholes. In a sense, we are our pieces. What about when you place two identities beside one another? What about the combination of two sets of traits, ideas, beliefs, two end results based on the configuration, the presence or absence of certain characteristics? What about three, or four?

            Our world is a vast and varied place because of its parts. Everyone is a piece that contributes something to the world, changes it at the very least in some minute way. Hundreds, thousands, billions of individuals, individual parts, moving, shaping, making up our world, and themselves in the process. It's a lot. Everything that we are, that we have come to be as the sum of our parts, creates an impact that resonates with those around us, and even those distant, directly or indirectly. It's not always obvious what influences what, or why a certain response arises, but it's all connected.

            Because of the sheer scope of it all, the layers of intricacies, it is easy to lose focus. It's easy to feel alone, isolated. One may feel that their actions have no merit, that they do not affect the world or those closest to them. Conversely, one may look at the world and see such powerful effects with no clue as to the cause- for instance, violence, hurt, oppression. In the effort to understand, to cope, sometimes the foremost answer(if any appears) may suffice.

            It's not so simple.

            Sure, on the matter of identity(and as a result, motivation, belief) one may point to an individual facet as proof, justification. There is likely some truth. However, that is, again, one facet, the machinery and the interlocking parts still mysterious to a casual glance. There is a phenomena of a belief of complete understanding, and yet one's knowledge may prove far more shallow than they realize. The hasty association of vaguely similar things to form an opinion, with no regard to understanding the individual components and their separate meanings, along with what they truly present in context together, and then again in greater context. It is the difference between hearing and listening, the difference between seeing and observing.

            Some truth of the other might pass through our senses, but we do not understand it. This is problematic when it leads to volatile reactions. A misinterpreted action, practice, expression, emotion, may lead to an overreaction- and if that is misinterpreted, another reaction may come that proves inappropriate to the situation; a chain reaction from bad to worse, and everyone loses. We don't have to live in such a world.

            We must recognize what we see and hear, and we must ensure that our understanding is as thorough as possible. This involves interacting with the other(respectfully) to find that understanding. Furthermore, we must recognize what we see, what we feel within ourselves. We must break that down and find the root causes- a real understanding of the self and one's motivations, in order to break through the white noise that encircles our limited knowledge and blocks us from our connection with others. Doing that may reveal that we are not as isolated as we thought, not severed from those with whom we found ourselves diametrically opposed.