We see caricatures, not people.

Too often we define others by their actions whilst judging ourselves by our intentions.

That’s a comfortable place to be.

Remember, it’s always easier to believe the parody is true, that your perceived enemy is a fool.

It’s easier to believe the caricature we’ve drawn up is the real version whilst also believing the avatar we’ve rehearsed to ourselves of ourselves is genuine.

And viewed the same by others.

It’s easy to do this for a little while, which could be years. But it soon becomes a tiring act to play.

The weight of disillusion begins to bear down on us. We can feel the foundation of our worldview crumbling, but our pride keeps us fixed to the cause. We pull apart, our cognition slows and we begin to feel misaligned and confusingly bitter.

The act of reducing another human being to a side of a fence, to a red or a blue… it’s not nourishing. It cheapens our experience as human beings.

So practice searching for intention. Assume incompetence before malevolence.