06/18/2026
The more I think about black-and-white thinking, the more I believe it's a developmental stage within a larger journey - for a person and for a culture/society.
I can think to my own healing journey and how early on I needed that stark differentiation between me and 'them.' Between me as the victim and them as the perpetrator. It was necessary so I could really create space for my wounds; give them the air time and protection they needed.
It was only through time and healing, growth and taking new skills and tools out in the world for a spin, that I began to develop more nuanced frameworks for thinking about my own healing. Thinking about larger dynamics and patterns within my relationships and larger life that had nuance to them - that I had responsibility in. That didn't fit into neat boxes.
This is my hope and vision for us as a society too. That even though so much of our cultural conversations around social change these days can be quite flat and reductionist - the good guys vs the bad, the oppressor vs the oppressed - that through continual healing and taking these ideas/worldviews out for a spin, that they keep developing and getting molded into more mature, nuanced, and sophisticated takes on the world, each other, and our places in it. That they begin to match and meet the complexity of the world in spiritual and emotional maturity that then ripples out in how we respond, treat each other, and show up.
What about you? What do you think?
🔶 This is part of my latest Reflection piece titled Would a Matriarchy Actually Be Better? Reflections on black-and-white thinking and social-spiritual maturity.
You can check it out on my Substack, Youtube, or wherever you listen to podcasts