Last night I was having a nice, normal conversation with some of my friends talking about daily events and catching up on our days when some one’s name was mentioned.

Almost everyone there had a different opinion on the person, one whom I didn’t know much of at all, which led me to not have an opinion. Some of these perspectives were formed by opinions of others such as, “Oh, I think what I think because that person is distant friends with one of my friends.” It continued to make me think, is that what people will judge you on if you’ve never gotten your own chance to converse with them?

How are we supposed to know people or get to know someone if we all have these preconceived ideas of what the person that we barely even know is like? Also, is it justified to have an opinion on someone whom you have never had an interaction with before?

We all are guilty of it, but is it fair?

We are all such complex and layered human beings, so how can we develop a well-informed viewpoint of someone in a matter of a few seconds? The person whom you are hearing about another from, could hate or love that person, and that will completely affect how they are mentioned around you.

However, the way to avoid the trap that we all seem to easily fall into is to keep an open mind. We can hear what others say and others think, respect their opinions and then just let them digest. You don’t need to make a decision on how you feel about someone, especially someone you don’t really know, in such a short amount of time.

If we reflect on the information given to us and get out of our comfort zone to possibly know the person in our own life, then maybe we will be enlightened to a new perspective. I just want to say that if we as a society were all able to gain multiple perspectives including our own on the people we are so quick to label and even those whom we don’t, things might be a lot less complicated.

Open-mindedness is the key to learning and understanding, and what a beautiful world that would be.