Conflict & Human Behaviour
I have decided to this blog because I find myself today thinking about conflict and human behaviour. Recent events such as the Oprah interview with Meghan and Harry and the Piers Morgan reaction, have really made me stop and think. Weirdly it has impacted me, and I feel sad about the whole situation. I say weirdly because I do not know these people personally, I have never met them, nor do they have any impact on my daily life. However, what I have witnessed on the news and on social media is what I can only describe as the worst kind of human behaviour.
I advocate those experiencing poor mental health, especially thoughts of suicide to speak out. I think Meghan showed amazing strength in reaching out to her husband and in taking steps to keep herself safe. I appalled her for recognising the dangers and search for that hope for life. I really hope that her revealing those experiences gives others confidence to do the same.
Regardless of anyone else’s views on Harry & Meghan, what they spoke about on Oprah is their reality. You can choose to believe them or not but for them it is all very real. For those members of the Royal Family who have been affected I can imagine this is a really difficult time and emotions will be heightened. It was the palace statement about recollections of the discussions on racism may vary, that triggered me to give this subject some thought and write about it.
In fact, this subject I talk about almost every day in my training, and it is an important message. Understand your own view of the world and practice non-judgmental listening. Over the last 72 hours I can safely say we still have some work to do in supporting people to develop a non-judgemental approach. I have seen nothing but judgements about this situation, even those who have not seen the interview or particularly care about it, there have been some who are projecting anger or frustration because of the level of coverage. So, let us just stop take a breath and think about the behaviours at play here.
Our view of the world is so unique, I heard on the radio this morning a police officer talking about their training and a particular exercise where people are shown an event and then the police officers must collect witness statements to piece together what happened.
When the witness statements were collected the variation in what people say they saw was amazing. It just demonstrated how even looking at the very same event at the same time we interpret what we see based on our own experience, beliefs and what we deem important information.
If we can learn to appreciate that we can have alternative views, and that our recollection of events can differ. We can learn to be more open, understand different perspectives and we can manage our emotions in a healthier way. My hope is that by doing this we can show each other what it truly means to #BeKind
I will continue to do my best to spread the important message of non-judgmental behaviour and hope that when the dust has settled that all involved in recent events can heal their wounds.
Thanks for listening.
Claire Bennett