A beautiful post from another online community -- "I am finding this to be a very intriguing thread as several of those who have replied have brought up the issues of freedom of expression and sensitivity. I have been doing some research on various types of expression lately and thought that maybe I could add something to this post on the concepts of freedom of expression, and sensitivity.
I recently read about the distinction between discharge and expression. With the former there lies an attitude that one must expel from themselves something they have taken in that feels foreign to one's being. With discharge there often comes a catharsis or release. While the release might temporarily leave one feeling empowered it is often a short lived experience. With expression, writers such as Darwin, Hospers, and Dewey state that true expression involves a conservation of energy, and a rhythmic internal process of allowing a building of resistance and tension balanced by periodic and measured releases. The result is that with verbal and written interchanges a feeling of true connection can be achieved as the differences between those in dialogue are actually being digested, absorbed, considered more deeply. In this sense, expressions contains an aesthetic quality. The conversation then becomes a thing of beauty as those involved both feel heard. True expression then is a mature, thoughtful, and considered process, a process where we allow experience to move through us with awareness, noting how the experience changes us, how difference informs us of who we are, and then responding to the differences creatively. With reaction and discharge we are asking others to do our work for us, externalizing our own internal processes. As friends to one another we commonly do this. Our friends witness our reactions and discharges and we are gracefully held in their care. In this way we help each other develop more maturity, and we can all use more of that. One more point in regards to the distinctions between true expression and discharge and reaction; There is often a call by posters (on this site and others) to be truthful, direct, not beat around the bush, a hold nothing back attitude. Be wary when you see this as it is often an invitation to say something that will unleash the others own internal critics, again externalizing the process into a discharge. In regards to sensitivity, I believe a few have spoken of the need to develop a thicker skin while using this board. I think that is a wise statement. However, I wish the opposite were true. I think we would all be much better off if there was enough safety and trust where we could all wear our thinner skins." Tony
