Gaining the Confidence Not to Shout All the Time
My tone has changed since my twenties, does that mean I’ve lost my edge?
My friend Traverse Davies commented he’d noticed a change in me since I’d move to the UK. He said I’m not as edgy or controversial anymore. Okay, specifically he said I’d become more “politically correct”.
Was he right?
I think he’s both right and wrong. I remember how I was in my twenties and early thirties. I was highly opinionated. I wouldn’t necessarily go so far as to say I was arrogant, the best phrase I’d use to sum myself up from that time would be, “strong opinions, weakly held”.
I was, and still am, someone who can form opinions very quickly. I’ll also defend those opinions to the best of my ability. However, when faced with contradictory evidence, I like to think that I’m willing to accept that and reassess my ideas.
So what has changed? I think there are two things I can pinpoint. The first is I would agree I no longer pursue controversy for the sake of it. The second would be I’ve moderated my tone. I don’t feel the need to shout so much.
Gaining confidence
For both themes, the cause is increased confidence. It’s taken me a long time to get comfortable with…
