Differences

Things I come to believe.

Whether a person is rich or poor does not determine if they do or do not suffer from mental health issues. 

Whether a person is born into a poor family or a rich family does not mean we know them or " their' kind"

We think we may know, but we cannot judge a person based on if they are poor or rich, and believe our judgments to be FACT. 

Just because a person is white, does not mean that it is OK to judge them, similar to how people have judged people who are black (and other POC or other cultures). Unity does not judge, it is open to all, it does not divide. Unity does not mean erase differences but to be willing to understand them. No one will know your experience except yourself. Even if you came from the same family. Nothing wrong with celebrating a group, something wrong with putting another group down.

Its easy to say we should hear all sides but its hard to hear when you have strong opinions that you want to be heard. 

Its ok to be ok with opposing opinions. It's the other ideas/ perceptions or assumptions that you make about someone that makes it difficult. Those ideas/perceptions/assumptions are not always true.

In certain instances when it is just an opinion and there is NO real threat to anyone, it is better to be kind, than to be right. (Fucken Celery is just celery, why fight over proving its nutritional benefit??! to the point you shut the other person down or make them feel like shit or have them walk out of the room or sink away defeated and feeling unheard or even unvalued, or brew anger and agitation, and even dislike. It's. just. celery. ) 

I enjoy hearing an individual's personal story, lived experience, rather than listening to a group narrative.

I put more value in an individual's responsibility to themselves and those around them, than asking others to be responsible for someone else.

In sociology class 101 at U of T, they talked about the social influence of a group. It is not always beneficial. I forgot the term used but the study includes a dynamic that if there is an individual in distress or in need of help, the likelihood of you helping that person decreases with the amount of people around you. The idea is that you end up just waiting for or expecting someone else to dare to help and it takes longer for the person to get help. Maybe the term is : Deindividuation. I think.