Blaming “The Other” Is a Distraction
The narrative around “the other” is a bullshit concept.
Everyone has bad days. Everyone. All the people you know and don’t know experience shit happening. Nobody on the entire planet lives a life free of pain, challenges, and/or suffering. Nobody.
Human beings are unique animals. That’s largely because we can create things that allow us to overcome the environment, limitations of distance, communications, and all sorts of other matters that no other animal can overcome. Whatever you’re reading this on now is a perfect example.
The problem with this amount of creative genius is that we’ve moved away from tangibles to intangibles dominating our lives. It’s no longer about finding food, shelter, and a mate to propagate the species to survive. Now it’s about finding ways to experience contentment, joy, and satisfaction. All of which are intangible.
The world is a crazy place, and humans do ridiculous things. Thanks to our global connectivity, we’re hyperaware of everything. This is often weaponized to stir emotions, and most of that is done via negativity.
This is where the “other” gets blamed for all kinds of woes. They will tell you that “the other” is taking away your job, your rights, your way of life, and so on. Who “the other” is changes depending on who has control of a given narrative. Worse, “the other” is often defined by utterly artificial or unimportant aspects.
More often than not, the idea of “the other” is used to make you act in a way that might look like it’s in your best interest. But realistically, it’s not.
Being awake and aware makes this clear
There is this utterly moronic notion that being “woke” – as in awake and aware of the world around you – is a bad thing. Decrying “wokeness” is just another face for “the other” and having someone else to blame.
Frequently, “the other” is not out to get you. That’s part of why “the other” changes so often. In the 1920s, during the Suffragist Movement, “the other” was females. In the 1960s, “the other” was black people. After the 2001 terrorist attack on US soil, “the other” was Muslims and anyone who looked Muslim. Currently, most US politicians and leaders suggest that “the other” might be liberals, migrants, women, LGBTQA+ people, and anyone not white and cisgender male.
None of these “others” are out to get anyone else. They aren’t seeking to take your way of life, steal your job, or destroy the world with their otherness. No, all they want is a seat at the table and for their voices to be heard.
This is utterly obvious when you’re awake and aware. Hence why people take umbrage with being “woke” – because that means you recognize that the narrative about “the other” is a bullshit concept.
The problem is, due to differences both real and artificial, there are people you will see as “other”. However…
You are “the other” to someone else
I am a cis-gendered, middle-aged, white male. Hence, I am “the other” to women, people of color, and the young and elderly.
That written, I recognize that blaming those like me is not so far-fetched, as most of modern society has been dominated by cis-gendered, middle-aged, white men. But since too many of those who are responsible refuse to be accountable in any way, here we are.
That dominance is why “the other” is used to distract you from the reality of the false narrative certain people strive to maintain. Like the idea that white, heterosexual people – especially men – are the most deserving people in the world, and “the other” is actively working to take away what’s rightfully yours.
This is utter bullshit. The only ones trying to take away what’s rightfully yours are those who maintain and propagate these false narratives. If you believe that billionaires – especially those who hoard what they can and give little to nothing to anyone else – have your best interests at heart, you’ve been played. If you think someone who makes more money hourly than 98% of people will earn in a lifetime – and refuses to pay fair taxes – is looking out for you, you’re buying the lies.
To them, you’re “the other” just as much as whatever “other” they’re telling you to blame for all your woes. They maintain power and control via the distraction of “the other” and then work overtime to keep people from being mindful, awake, and aware to hold that false power.
It’s insidious and infuriating. So, what can you do about it?
Be mindful
It really is that simple. But there is an important caveat to this. Be mindful of yourself first.
Too much time focused on the outside world distracts you from being empowered. That’s why being awake, aware, and mindful starts from within.
Mindfulness begins via recognizing and acknowledging what you’re thinking, what and how you’re feeling, what your intentions are, if your approach to any given matter is positive or negative, and what you’re doing.
To help that be more real, apply your senses to gain clarity of your surroundings. Together, that’s mindfulness you can apply to recognize the bullshit of “the other” and the distraction that it is.
An important last note: You cannot make anyone else be mindful. You only control yourself. But when you’re mindful, you’re empowered. Empowerment can magnetize others to you and also influence people to seek and find their own empowerment. Think globally but act locally, and start with yourself.
Recognizing that blaming “the other” is a distraction isn’t hard
It’s all about practicing mindfulness of your thoughts, feelings, intentions, and approach to direct your actions.
When you recognize and acknowledge that the notion of “the other” is meant to distract you from being mindful and aware, you can make choices and decisions to not fall for that trap. Knowing that you can choose what you consume and be awake and aware, you can decide from there to be proactive and seek accountability over blame by being actively consciously aware – i.e., mindful.
This empowers you, and your empowerment can empower others around you.
Consciously choosing your approach to life towards positivity or negativity – from the vast cylinder that exists between them – shifts life in a way that opens greater dialogue. From that broader dialogue, you can recognize, explore, and share where you are between the extremes and how that impacts you here and now.
Choosing thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions for yourself employs an approach and attitude of positivity for realizing amazing potential and possibilities for your life.
The better aware you are of yourself here and now, the better you can choose and decide what, how, and why your life experiences will be. When you empower yourself, that can spread to those around you for their empowerment.
Thank you for coming along on this journey.
This is the five-hundred-and-eighty-seventh (587) entry of my Positivity series. I hope that these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone. Feel free to share, reblog, and spread the positivity.
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