User talk:NinaOdell/My sandbox

Some thoughts on mediation and commenting on content.

People come here for all kinds of reasons. Some folks just like to write, some folks came here with a strong and passionate desire to be heard. They perhaps can't write well, or understand even the simplest things written in their own language, much less others. But they come to these projects with a burning desire to be heard, and understood.

There is a concept that I have found in all the religions I have studied, and in English it's called grace. Grace stops the train from killing the orphans, grace protects the women hiding in the bathroom from slaughter with machetes, grace serves guides, and protects. It even protects the people who don't believe in it.

When you "hear" and acknowledge the pain, frustration, and anger of another, you can be an agent of grace. Even the smallest grace can move a mountain, or write an online encyclopedia. In the Christian tradition, this is called witnessing. You don't have to believe in God to witness, you just have to witness.

When you "witness", something almost magical happens. People stop what they're doing and start listening. They, in other words, start witnessing back. When people start to witness each other, common ground can be found - and a shared sense of mission, like building an online-encyclopedia. Witnessing builds another concept I've found that's important, and that's trust.

Trust is the foundation for all shared human endeavors that amount to something. I trust when I cross the street, or build a bridge, or build an online encyclopedia that anyone in the world with access to a computer can edit. Trust equals hope, which leads to grace.

People come to this project for all kinds of reasons. Some folks come to "stand up" for their favorite beleaguered celebrity, or champion their favorite video game. Some folks come because it's a class assignment, and stay because it makes them feel smarter, and better. Still other folks come to spotlight an-all-but-forgotten atrocity, or their religion, or their recipe for baked ziti.

I submit that when you acknowledge their passion, you help to share it, and by sharing it, you can "defuse" it. This is an important first step in stopping the vandal, re-directing the disruptive user, and ending conflict.

Sincerely,

Nina Odell 17:49, 3 January 2007 (UTC)