Maria Arpa
Unblinding
Plus…
Maria’s Midweek Mindfulness
and
The Wednesday Whisper
The process of becoming aware
This week I was in a group dialogue with people who have experienced oppression. One member of the group who was supporting them talked about how he came to understand structural and cultural violence. He described it as unblinding.
I was touched by this expression. It helped me to understand that blindness prevents people from seeing and visiting harm on others may not be out of bad intention but out of not seeing.
It struck a chord with me because it explained something I had not been able to articulate. It’s actually easier to work with people who are knowingly creating harm. It is much harder to call out harm created by the well intentioned when they are unwilling to see.
Maria’s Midweek Mindfulness
This last few years have been a slow unblinding for me. At every stage, revelations open my awareness to inequalities and injustices that I had not previously seen. Of course, it’s why I do what I do.
The Wednesday Whisper
Where in your life could you start to unblind? What feedback or comments have you dismissed, overridden or avoided? When has your feedback and comments been dismissed, overridden or avoided?