Subject to the Subjective

Engaging - not minimizing - subjectivity is a step toward wisdom.

We’ve all heard phrases like “Touchy feely.” “Woo.” “Just subjective.” These are never compliments – they’re more like rhetorical shields from the intangible world of the subjective. In fact, they’re generally just shorthand for putting someone’s experience or claim in a diminutive mental box labeled ‘distractions to be ignored by serious people.’ 

I object. 

Many of the deepest realities and experiences of life are subjective. Pain. Pleasure. Love. Trust. Hope. Beauty. Humor. Motivation. Desire. These and many more provide not just the color and texture of life, but comprise the invisible glue that holds relationships (and by extension) the world together. Most of the decisions of life (what to buy, who to marry, where to go to college, etc.) are influenced - or fully decided - by subjective factors. The sooner we can engage the inherent subjectivity of human life with intentionality, the sooner we will advance in wisdom.