COME ON FOLKS, LET'S BE FRIENDS...I'M HARMLESS!

As I sat down to create this item for Wrights Lane I was dealing with several thoughts and emotions. I even pondered the possibility of creating something that  everyone would like and thereby meet with 100 per cent approval. It did not take long for the impossibility of the task to set in...politics, religion, sports, philosophy, history, happy or sad renderings, personal life reflections, humor -- you name it. The reality is that there is not one single subject that everyone would agree on and as far as I am concerned that is too bad. Perhaps there would be a down side to total agreement and I may develop that thought in a future offering on this site. Meantime, as a vent of sorts, I leave readers with the following which, as it turns out, is by no means my best piece of work. Hell, even I'm not sure if I like it!

No one likes not being liked! Just ask me, I know whereof I speak.

I have, of course, never set out purposely to do anything that would cause someone to dislike me, but still it has happened more times than I can count, due to something I have written or conveyed in the course of everyday verbal communications. It is the price paid by those of us who express ourselves publicly, primarily by means of the written word.

It just all goes with the territory.

I diligently take into consideration all sides of any issue or story idea that I pursue, knowing full well what I am opening myself up to. I have been at this craft for a very long time and have pride in authorship but I've yet to come to grips with the acknowledgement that along the way I have made some bad friends, or there are those who simply feel that I am a bag of wind.

Regardless, writers learn very early in their careers that there will be those who do not see the world with their eyes. Worse yet, there will be those who will be offended by something you say or commit to written word...And more frequently these days, there are those who become indignant with the least provocation. Touchy, touchy.

Social media platforms are particularly lethal in this regard and the quickest way to get yourself in trouble.

The reality is that we’ve become extremely hung up on issues of “right” vs. “wrong” in all aspects of life. I would go so far to say that most people today honestly believe that right and wrong are truly separate, definable and absolute categories. Because we often believe “what’s right is right, and what’s wrong is wrong,” we feel justified in disliking or even hating people whom we deem to be a little off our mark.

The problem with this kind of thinking is that it is totally black and white, and it ignores the shades of gray and the good within the bad.   Besides that, it is simply impossible to untangle the good from the bad, because all circumstances and events are infinitely complex.

To be certain, we are completely entitled to our personal preferences, and there’s nothing wrong with feeling strongly about a given subject. However, when we accept the fact that we are only dealing with a preference, rather than right and wrong, it becomes easier to forgive other people for their choices and actions. 

None of us is right, and none of us is wrong. We just are what we are, and we prefer what we prefer. 

And as far as we writers are concerned, we write about what we feel is in the public's best interest. Sometimes we even try to be a little  entertaining in the process.

Dismiss me if you like. Nothing new in that. But no need to become bad friends over it.

We can still have a coffee together at Tim Hortons and shake hands or bump elbows in church...And continue to enjoy conversational exchanges via Facebook text messaging.