Currently Reading

by Ashley Weeks Cart

I’ve been in a bit of a funk this week, reading in to the actions of others more negatively than they likely intended. This post about What Babies Can Teach Us was a positive reframing of my perspective:

People are usually tired and scared; not mean

They can’t – of course – tell us what is wrong with them. We have to guess – and what’s striking is how generous we are in our interpretation of what is going on.

When they cry, we don’t accuse them of being mean or self-pitying. When they hit or kick, we assume they must just be frightened or momentarily vexed. We are constantly aware of just how much the workings of hunger, a tricky digestive tract or a lack of sleep may affect human character.

How helpful it would be if we were more often able to apply a similar method of interpretation around adults. How kind we would be if we could look beneath the surface behaviour – the unpleasantness, viciousness and desperate grumpiness – and see that what could really be going on is just confusion, fear and exhaustion.

Full post here.