Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Self-forgiveness: Judgments about English Accents.

For the first time in my, I had to deal with discrimination based on foreign  English accents, here I was the discriminator. From the moment I met this person recently, I went into severe judgments and anger, I just couldn't believe how much bullshit I carry within myself. Here I am, an immigrant in Canada, I have a thick accent in English, most people don't understand half things I speak. And yet, I was all ready to trash and ban another just because he/she got an accent very much like mine, perhaps bit more foreign, or thicker accent. I reacted so much that I am avoiding talking to this person now, I keep it to a minimum. Mere listening to this person makes me feel very uncomfortable. It goes to show how much self judgments I am carrying in relation to English accents. Time to release them with self forgiveness. 


I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to judge others when they have thick English accents. 


I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to judge another as dumb and stupid because the way he/she pronounce the English words.


I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to judge another as dumb because he/she got a very thick foreign accent.


I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to avoid another because he/she got a such a thick foreign accent that I cannot bare to listen to them speak.


I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to judge another based on his/her accent, assuming that one's accent in English to indicated level of intelligence. 


I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to judge another's accent so much so, that I avoid facing that person. 


I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to hide from facing other person because he/she got a such a thick accent in English, which I assume as stupidity. 


I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to not realize this person that I am avoiding because of his/her accent, I do so because he/she mirrors me. I am avoiding myself by avoiding others. 


I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to fear talking to another who has got a very thick accent in English, that I interpret as stupidity. 


I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to not realize that my own self judgments and beliefs and mirrored through this  person. I am seen myself in this person, therefore I see my own self judgments. After all I too have a very thick accent in English, that is precisely why I judge the other for his/her accent. 


I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to believe that those with 'funny' English accents to be dumb and stupid. 


I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to believe that anyone with a very heavy accent to be dumb and stupid. 


I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to assume that nice accent means good intelligence, and bad accent means stupidity. 


I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to define English accents as good or bad, hence associate them to his/her intelligence. 


I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to associate English accent to intelligence. Now that is a dumb ass thing to do.


I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to not realize all I need is bit of patience and bit of attentive listening to understand those with heavy accents. Their accents don't make them dumb and stupid as I have concluded within myself. 


I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to avoid those with heavy accents because it makes me feel very uncomfortable. Because I too have an accent, therefore I see my own self judgments via others. 


I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to judge others, not realizing all those judgments I carry within myself about myself. 


I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to believe that its OK for me to be dumb and stupid but not for others. so when I hear them speak with 'bad' accents I allow myself to punish them. 


I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to be avoiding even listening to his/her normal conversations because I assume other's accent is so bad, that's not even worth to hear them. Each is me, in avoiding them, I am avoiding myself.


I breathe, and not let accents to bother me. I breathe, and be very attentive when I hear a foreign accent. People's accents don't make them stupid, unless I have such self-judgments about myself. 


I stop all such bullshit ideas about accents, it just a sound of how one speak, there is no right or wrong way to sound a word. Believing in accents is a goddamn pre-program, its not real. breathing here is real, listening attentively to another is real. Been here as breath while listening another is real. 


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Thanks.

1 comment:

  1. thanks for sharing anton. it would be cool to take the point of an accent back to self and investigate how you have defined yourself for having an accent, and how you have defined accents/ways of speaking in general. we tend to make judgments and assumptions about ourselves and others based on the way we speak

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