As Clear as Day
Back to the 8 C’s we go!
Clarity — n. 1. the ability to perceive situations accurately without distortion from extreme beliefs and emotions 2. the ability to maintain one’s objectivity about a situation in which one has a vested interest 3. the absence of preconception and objection 4. the ability to maintain a “beginner’s mind” in which many possibilities exist (Taken from Julia Sullivan and The Center For Self Leadership).
Think of a storm, full of rage, full of anger. Then think of the calm that comes after that storm, the wave, the flow, the ebbing of calmness dissipating the storm into a serene environment. What comes next?
A clear sky. A clear day.
Clarity.
Imagine you were caught in that storm. How would you feel? What would you do?
If I was in that storm I would probably run for cover, making rash decisions to get out of the rain, I would be moving in a fast pace. In the clearness that followed, I would probably sit outside, go for a walk, feel the sun on my face, and take the time to absorb my surroundings. The pace would be much slower.
I like to think of that storm as the emotions that govern your behaviour when not thinking with clarity, and the clear day the emotions that govern your behaviour when thinking with clarity. When your emotional state lacks clarity, you cannot perceive a situation with objectivity and accuracy. You feel emotion, and you act on that emotion regardless of whether that emotion is a reliable truth of how you feel about a situation in accordance with your own belief system. In other words, you might make rash decisions in a fast paced environment (just like in the storm!), and sometimes these decisions may contradict your own morals and belief system. On the other hand, when your emotional state is thinking with clarity, you will be taking the time to understand your situation, fully absorbing and taking in all sides of your surroundings in a slower paced environment (just like on a clear day!), meaning you are more careful, thus more likely to act within your own morals.
For example, imagine your significant other has a date planned with you but has to cancel last minute. Your instant emotional reaction might cause you to lash out and create an argument, probably because part of you is perceiving the situation as an attack on you. This part might be being governed by fear (“my partner doesn’t like me anymore”), anger (“all my effort for tonight has gone to waste”) or even jealousy (“I wish I was spending the time with them”). The storm is swirling, a mixture of unclear emotions are distorting your understanding of the situation.
However, when you have calmed down from your instant reaction of emotion without clarity, you can understand the situation a little better. You can see that they probably had a good reason for cancelling, and that it aligns with your morals to give your partner the space and ability to have to cancel if need be. This is because once the storm subsides, and it becomes clearer, you can rationally see the situation from all sides — namely your significant other’s perspective.
Take another situation, imagine you mistakenly think your friend has told another friend a piece of information about you that you told them in confidence. Your instant behaviour might be that of hostility and accusation toward your friend, you might shout, you might send an angry text. They react in an angry manner shouting that they never betrayed you and that it was someone else. It explodes into an argument. Your behaviour here is being governed by emotions that are lacking clarity — mostly anger and betrayal (“I can’t believe they told my information!”). However if you are calm, and you are thinking with clarity, your behaviour would have likely had been different. You might politely ask your friend for the situation to be explained. They react in a nice way, explaining how it wasn’t them. No argument breaks out.
All too often in my life I see around me people (myself included!) lashing out by acting on emotions that are within their internal storm, acting on emotions that are not governed by clarity. I wonder what the world would be like if everyone's instant reaction was that of calmness and clarity. I guess then for me, I want to start trying to ensure that I think with clarity within my initial emotional reaction, instead of acting on that initial storm, as this will overall strengthen my relationships and reduce my selfishness. Thinking with clarity can help see the situation from all sides, meaning you are more likely to be open and understanding to different perspectives and thoughts. You are able to be Curious about the situation… and that is the next C word to be explored… click here to read!
Written by Harriet Simmons, April 2021
