LIFE COACH
DEBBIE KEMP PARENTING ANXIETY
A Request for More Love and Acceptance
D
oes anyone else smell the judgement in the air? It seems to start as passionate opinions, and it gets expressed in a way that is designed to make people feel ‘less than’. In recent months I’ve seen people called stupid, idiotic, and other words I can’t bring myself to type. I feel so distant to all of that, and I want to offer you a moment of reflection. We currently live in a world of some very polarising thinking… Do you think that people are stupid because of what they believe? Do you think that anyone isn’t as good as you because they don’t have the same understanding or perspective that you have? There’s been something about the last few months that has brought to the surface a collective interest in what everyone else is doing, saying and thinking. Once upon a time I heard the phrase “What you think 56 | eYs Magazine, Winter 2020
of me is none of my business”, and I liked it. It communicated a sense of detachment from the judgment of others. In these times however, I feel like it’s harder to detach from such judgement than it has been in the past. We’re being told how to live by Governments, media, workplaces, and strangers. I want to be careful here, not to make this article about the specifics of public health or Government legislation, because I want to focus on the love and acceptance that is so needed in the world at a time like this, and always. As a community, we’re not familiar with the concept of
keeping social distance, or going into isolation. Some people are heavily supportive of these measures, no doubt because of fear that’s related to a potential outcome. Others believe that it’s an unnecessary restriction, causing more harm than infectious disease. Rather than weigh in on that, I want to ask…
