Tension

A troubled and depressed Martin Luther King looks over a crowd. (196

As I (J) get older, and my life path intertwines with the paths of more and more people, I find myself having tension or conflicts with an increasing amount of people. It’s disconcerting, not only because I feel that I do what is right, but also because I “like to be liked.” But I’m learning to stand on it, live with it and accept it as part of living a life of meaning: “The best are supposed to clash at the top.” (Nas)

“But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word ‘tension.’ I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, we must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.”

–Letter From Birmingham City Jail (1963)