Friday, July 8, 2022
To dissolve fear, you have to name it; to add a face to it; or to expose it to the preciousness of life itself. Fear needs to be shown an individual personality. Those who expose fear, shed light on it, bring it out of the dark corners of ignorance and anonymity – they are the diplomats who are changing the world.
Diplomacy shows fear that humans actually share common traits – being vincible, vulnerable, and tender. A diplomat can see deeply into people, through the exterior, especially those who lash out with fearful actions and hateful words. They put a name with a faceless, aggressive driver. They see the faces of the people that would be harmed by legislation that excludes and belittles. Diplomats walk into contentious meetings and diffuse fear with direct eye contact, a smile and a handshake. They can cut through tension with humor, bringing down the haughty by relating with others in the common bond of laughter.
Diplomats see themselves in all people. They see what’s “behind” the eyes of another person, rather than objectifying and being fearful of groups of faceless, nameless people. Yes, people without names and faces are scary, but diplomats find their eyes first, and then see what’s down in the soul. It’s easy to hate and to be afraid of those you don’t know. It’s easy to fear those who do harmful things. But once you hear their name, see their face, look into their eyes, and hear their story, fear becomes much more difficult to sustain. Fear thrives in darkness, behind a computer screen or a television. Fear spreads when people have no name, no face, no story or any interaction. If we had more diplomacy in this world, we wouldn’t be so afraid of each other. Think about becoming a diplomat and to expose the folly of fear.