If you haven’t read Part 1, I urge you not to read this. You cannot go backwards, you cannot unknow once you know. So please go to https://steemit.com/mentalhealth/@mobermeier/the-man-with-the-camera-part-1 if you haven’t read it yet.
If you have read Part 1, I congratulate you in making it here. I thank you for thinking that my writing is interesting enough to spend your time on. We all have a story to tell and I appreciate you indulging me in mine. I am just one human and human I am.
So what would you think of me if I say I misled you? What if I told you now that I did speak to the man filming? Would what he had to say matter? What if it turned out that he had an amazingly good intentions?
For example, if he was trying to document both the inadequacies in our mental health services and the ignorant reactions (and lack of reactions) of all the witnesses who passed by this woman in clear need of support. In sensitively documenting and sharing this story, he hoped to bring awareness to these issues, start dialogue and make movement towards change. He dreams that one day, not only will no one walk by this woman without helping but also that no person would be so deserpate to be screaming for kindness in such a loud way. She matters to him. Her story matters to him. Everyone like her matters to him. And we as a society matters to him.
Did you dislike this man in Part 1? I did. I judged him and made many assumptions about his character and moral compass. I categorized him and jumped to my own conclusions, based on the lens in which I was viewing him. He became an example of the things I dislike both in myself and in society. But he was just a man — a person with value and worth. My assumptions were a mirror of myself, rather than a fact-based understanding of him as a person.
The reality remains that I never spoke to the man and I will never know more than I observed. But I have stilled stopped to try and learn from the situation. Two additional things I have learned are:
1) I/You can be judgmental even when you think you are being enlightened. I thought I was above him based on some moral code without knowing anything. Maybe my judgments were correct and I could have had an impact. But maybe they weren’t and I could have met someone amazing. Either way, I missed out on an opportunity because I was being as closed-minded as I perceived him to be.
2) Words are very powerful so be cautious of how I/you use them. Reading and reflecting on Part 1, I realized that I potentially took the reader on a journey of my version of events — a version that vilified and utilized this man for my own purposes, without trying to understand his motivations or give him the benefit of the doubt. I painted only a flat picture for you to see and you had no reason to question it. In this way, words can be persuasive, manipulative and deceptive, but they can also be encouraging, enlightening, and uplifting. So it is important to be critical and conscious when using your own words, because they can impact the minds of others and your own thoughts.
