Blog # 1

Blog #1

In one of our readings from earlier this January, we covered the topic of compassionate listening. One of the modes of listening from that reading particularly stuck out to me which was that of the Enthusiast’s Infatuation. This mode of listening hardly acknowledges the differences of others if at all.  This mode of listening basically just glosses over the differences of others. I see this mode of listening happen all the time. I can say this about my own experiences of observing this mode being used; I don’t think that this mode of listening is used by a majority of people to be intentionally hostile. That being said, though most people’s intentions don’t seem to be intended as hurtful they still can create emotional pain to the people that they exercise the Enthusiast’s Infatuation mode of listening with.

            I believe that by attempting to absorb other people, while dissolving their differences to seem like nothing is seen as an attempt to be accommodating and inclusive to many of those that exercise this mode of listening. Perhaps they feel like they are trying to include others by not focusing on their differences so that they don’t feel alienated from the group or culture. I think this is a positive objective but flawed nonetheless. No two people are exactly the same, no matter how similar they may seem. It is important to acknowledge this. This does not mean obsess or exaggerate the differences of others, just simply acknowledge. Here’s why, because no two people experience life the same exact way. It is because we experience life differently since we are all inherently different that our differences need to be acknowledged and appreciated. If we can’t appreciate other’s differences then how can we hope to empathize with them?

            Being empathetic to the struggles of other’s due to their different life experiences is essential in effective communication and relationships. I have seen how the seemingly good intentions of others have caused harm to many different groups of people. For example, people of different ethnicities within a largely homogenous community are not getting the kind of support that they need because their friends and sometimes even family minimize the fact that they are different and thus experience life differently than the majority, sometimes this can be a negative experience. In this scenario, the individual that is part of the ethnic minority is left feeling misunderstood while their friends are left confused because they felt like they were just trying to make their friend feel they are one of them. Now the intentions of the friends are good, but they did make a mistake in minimizing the differences of their friend of a different ethnicity and thus cannot empathize with their friend when they experience life differently.

            Disney has actually featured the Enthusiast’s Infatuation in a lot of their films. One of these films is Tarzan. In this movie Tarzan’s adopted mother, Kala who happens to be a gorilla goes about life basically pretending that her adopted human son is an ape like her. She makes the mistake of not really acknowledging that Tarzan is different from her and her kind, which makes him sometimes feel limited and inadequate. Though his mother helps him to feel better about himself he still knows that he is different than everyone else around him. I’ll include a link below. All in all I don’t feel that this mode of listening is meant to be harmful but it can be. Acknowledging people’s differences doesn’t have to get weird or blown out of proportion; they just have to be appreciated.

           

Tarzan and Kala scene:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv3DZJc5LQU