Words matter, how we frame things is how we interpret the world.

The “we” is usually who we consider our community, our friends, the people like us. Our friends, our colleagues, our views, our neighbourhood, our business, our team,…

When we articulate the “they”, they become the other. They become potentially opposition or strangers. They are framed in a different light. They did this, they didn’t do this, they did that, they didn’t do that, they think that … The basic rules of the playground are then brought into the equation. The other is not included in the our and by definition they are distanced from us just by the very word they.

So it triggered some reflection. Are they really they? What happens when we try and empathise instead of judge? Where and why do these boundaries get set? How flexible and fluid is the we and they? If/when we meet challenges, how can reframing the they help us think more objectively about the problem??…