Oordelen, nadelen

“Observeren zonder evalueren is de hoogste vorm van intelligentie” zei Jiddhu Krishnamurti eens. En goed kijken leert inderdaad: het plakken van namen en labels lijkt ons verdomd vaak in de weg te zitten. Noem jezelf een middelmatig mens en voor je het weet gaat je gedrag ernaar staan; de self-fulfilling prophecy, en het buitensluiten van oneindige mogelijkheden. Dit gedicht van Ruth Bebermeyer tikte ook mij op een hele lieve manier op de vingers. Graag gedeeld, onvertaald klaar sprekend.

I’ve never seen a lazy man

I’ve never seen a lazy man;

I’ve seen a man who never ran

while I watched him, and I’ve seen

a man who sometimes slept between

lunch and dinner, and who’d stay

at home upon a rainy day,

but he was not a lazy man.

Before you call me crazy,

think, was he a lazy man or

did he just do things we label “lazy”?

I’ve never seen a stupid kid;

I’ve seen a kid who sometimes did

things I didn’t understand

or things in ways I hadn’t planned;

I’ve seen a kid who hadn’t seen

the same places where I had been,

but he was not a stupid kid.

Before you call him stupid,

think, was he a stupid kid or did he

just know different things than you did?

I’ve looked as hard as I can look

but never ever seen a cook;

I saw a person who combined

ingredients on which we dined,

A person who turned on the heat

and watched the stove that cook the meat –

I saw those things but not a cook.

Tell me when you’re looking,

is it a cook you see or is it someone

doing things that we call cooking?

What some of us call lazy

some call tired or easy-going,

what some of us call stupid

some just call a different knowing,

so I’ve come to the conclusion,

it will save us all confusion

if we don’t mix up what we can see

with what is our opinion.

Because you may, I want to say also;

I know that’s only my opinion.