"they"

So, I was listening to the radio while I was driving yesterday and heard an interesting story. A man formerly known as Andrew Wilson, of Ohio, has officially changed his name to "They" after 'they' who are often referred to in speculative comments. 'They' is often said to add credibility to a statement by alluding that 'they' are an authority on the subject. Interesting.

Another interesting phenomenon in language is using 'you' or 'people', when we are actually referring to ourselves. Such as, "you know, when people get upset when they are driving they always...." I'm curious, because no, I don't know, and who really are these people being discussed? It's you, the speaker, but by placing the responsibility of feelings and words on a general nobody, it frees the speaker to be somewhat protected or masked by the anonymity of their language. There is an interesting shift when one takes responsibility for their words and feelings simply by exchanging the words 'you', 'people' and 'they' with 'I'. Try it. It changes the everything.

Being truly authentic requires us to be somewhat vulnerable to criticism, but also compassion, and that is through open, honest communication. Owning our words is an important step, because we can really only speak for ourselves. We can really only speak to what we know and feel, and what we know and feel is valid and valuable, so why not say 'I'?

Using words like 'they' and 'you' are dis empowering because they remove ownership and accountability of our words and feelings. Why not own up to the fact that we have certain beliefs or are unsure of origins of information, or that it may feel true regardless where it came from? I invite you to own your words and say "I" instead of giving all the credit to "They" (formerly known as Andrew Wilson), I mean who is this guy anyways?