Hey,
It's Colby.
Imagine you're on break at work.
You're sitting across from a coworker.
Someone you like.
Someone you joke with.
Someone you've worked on projects with,
Or shared coffee with.
And then,
Halfway through the conversation,
He starts talking about politics,
Or the news,
Or some theory about how the world works.
And you realize he believes something you deeply disagree with.
Not just,
I see that differently,
But something that makes your stomach tighten.
Something that feels naive,
Or reckless,
Or maybe even offensive.
And,
In that moment,
A question appears in your mind.
Do I shut this down?
Do I smile politely and mentally label him crackpot or nutjob?
Or,
Is there another posture I could take here?
Can I sit with the discomfort long enough to ask myself,
What if this conversation,
Even if it offends me,
Is part of what it means to live in a free society?
What if the feeling of offense isn't a sign that something has gone wrong,
But a sign that I'm sharing space with a mind that isn't required to resemble mine?
And even if what he's saying is false,
Is there still something I might learn from the exchange?
If every conversation is safe,
Predictable,
And agreeable,
Is that freedom?
John Stuart Mill was a 19th century British philosopher and political thinker,
Whose ideas still shape how we talk about freedom today.
In his book on liberty,
Mill argued that a society truly flourishes when people are allowed to think,
Speak,
And disagree openly,
Even when what they say is unpopular or offensive.
For Mill,
Disagreement wasn't a problem to eliminate.
It was a condition of a free and living society.
So,
What happens when we're involved in an uncomfortable conversation?
Are we required to fight back and win the debate?
Questions and answers are drawn to each other like magnets.
They snap together almost instantly.
But what if we lingered in the space between them?
What if instead of rushing toward an answer,
We stayed in that quiet,
Uncomfortable gap?
The place where uncertainty lives.
That's where meditation can help with your daily life.
Because when we meditate,
We breathe in that empty space.
With clear minds,
We loosen our grip on identity.
On ego.
On our attachment to opinions.
In our culture,
We're expected to have an opinion about everything.
A take.
A stance.
A side.
We're rewarded for certainty,
Even when we haven't really examined what we believe.
But what if,
When someone asked you what you think,
You simply said,
I don't know.
Let me think about that.
You might sound strange.
You might look indecisive.
Maybe even weak.
But I can imagine one of the most important philosophical figures in history listening to you,
Gently stroking his beard and saying,
Yes,
That's a good answer.
I don't know.
Let's ask more questions.
Let's take the long way around truth.
Let's examine life instead of reacting to it.
Let's dwell for just a moment in the space between the question and the answer.
Let's live a Socratic life.
So for the next few moments,
Let's live in that empty space.
Let's clear our minds.
Let's breathe into the music.
Thank you for listening.
Until next time.
