My Opinion Does not Matter

My Opinion Does Not Matter

John Paul Derryberry

I feel like writing about what is occurring in Minneapolis is piling on to something everyone is dissecting. I feel like not writing about what is occurring in Minneapolis is being tone-deaf to what is, hopefully, a tipping point in how we govern, who we allow to govern, and how we view each other.  As everyone spews their opinions about what transpired, some are outright lying, some are dangerously inconsistent with their belief systems, and some are nailing the commentary on what is occurring spot on. The problem with it all is that we all know we are preaching mostly to a choir that already believes whatever opinion they formed first. The problem with that is opinions rarely count as facts, despite the recent trend to treat them as such.

I remember years ago, a community emailed me about coming to talk about emotional health due to a recent suicide in the area. While we talked through what it could look like, a couple of community members’ opinions were that the mental and emotional health crisis would grow if we openly talked about it.  A couple of suicides later, I was in the community working with them on mental health. I do not bring this up as a catch-you moment. Two-hour-long talks from me delivered 3 months ago do not prevent suicides. If it did, I would be using that superpower to eradicate suicide across the globe. It provided space to heal and to understand how these tragedies will have a lasting impact.

It’s to point out that what transpires in the world often cares very little about our opinion of what can, could, will, or won’t happen.  A lot of folks in my line of work, social work, ask me about the politics involved. My answer is always the same: disabilities, mental and emotional health, do not care who you vote for, who you pray to, and what you believe. Tragedies and hardships land in life uninvited and unannounced, forcing everyone within that group to challenge their views of life, bend in ways they did not think they could, test their resilience, and ultimately remind us that their opinions on mental or emotional health did nothing to prevent it from arriving in their community.

That’s why my opinion of what transpired really doesn’t matter. What matters is building a world less full of anger and hate. More vulnerable to creating space for healing, growth, consistency, and transparency. Less concerned with the opinion of others, and more concerned with facts, and not manipulated facts. What matters is waking up every day to build a better community where suffering is less, where hatred of others is gone, and where we do not race to be correct about what transpired through our own tainted views of faith, life, and how the world should work. I want it to work for as many people as possible who you vote for, pray to, or support. There is enough space for a lot of things, but there should not be space for what transpired in Minneapolis. I’ll do my part, whatever that is, to help it not happen again.