From the Brain of Dr. Nicki: Labels, labels everywhere and not a pause to think!

I don't know about you but I'm sick of labels! Actually, they’re the lazy person's weapon. If I can make an assumption about who you are and how you are by putting you in a pre-labeled box, I won't need to bother discovering any of the distracting human details that might threaten to bring us closer, or increase true understanding, or bump up against compassion. All that is to say: labels are yet another way of preventing Real intimacy. Like social media obsessions, lack of depth conversation, and like rushing from activity to activity.

Indeed, we have gotten so afraid of getting close that we devise all sorts of ways to protect against it. And every day in every way it's getting worse. Do I sound disheartened? It's hard not to be. I’ve discovered you're Republican or Democrat, so I need to hate you. You're an atheist or a believer so I need to reject you. You're a woman or a man so I need to invalidate your position. Your ethnicity is different from mine so I need to judge you. You're an addict so I can’t take you seriously. You’re a narcissist, chauvinist, idiot, pig, rat, racist, bigot and more so your feelings don’t count. You're depressed so you need drugs. You're anxious so you need drugs. You have trouble sleeping so you need drugs.

Here's the thing: very often simple answers are simply simplistic. To come to meaningful conclusions we must invest time, energy, and true interest. No matter what the topic, investment is required. It means we have to pause, refuse assumption, reject the quick fix. Human beings are amazing. We have minds and bodies and hearts and capacities and resilience – usually far beyond what we imagine. But tweets, sound bites, skewed articles, insta-opinions make it easy to get lazy about it all – to let someone else do our thinking for us. To be sheep and go along with group think. So I say this to you: challenge yourself. Challenge your old ideas. Confront agreement. Investigate new areas. Turn your old ways upside down and see what's on the other side. You have nothing to lose but a lack luster life. You have nothing to lose.