"Opinions...

...they're like genitals: just because you have them doesn't mean you should whip them out."

That's how that quote goes, right?

Opinions are the first Drop in the Ocean post that I've actually been excited to write about because I've got a whole hell of a lot of them. Here's a few:

• Conspiracy theorists are wack-jobs.
• Trump is an awful president.
• Social justice isn't such a crazy idea.
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi was the best Star Wars yet DON'T @ ME.
  
  

See why I probably shouldn't whip them out just anywhere?

As an INFP I'm prone to internalizing my beliefs about the world and holding to them strongly, which generates a lot of deeply rooted opinions and can make me closed off to outside reasoning. Or at least it used to when I was a bit younger and less experienced with people. Now my job is to work with people, and though I can be abrasive at times I've generally learned how to see the other side of an argument. Perspective, especially perspective that isn't your own, is valuable in life and rarely sought.

I learned within the last year and a half that opinions, by their nature, are always controversial. If I try to tell you, for example, that pineapple pizza is the greatest food of all time, you're going to tell me that I'm bat-shit crazy (unless you like pineapple pizza in which case virtual high-five). You can either spend your whole life tip-toeing around everyone and never expressing any opinions or you can learn that the controversy of opinions decreases greatly when you have a relationship with the person you're talking to them about.

This is why discussions of religion, politics, and the general shape of the mother-loving (round) earth rarely fare well on the internet. When you have these conversations with complete and utter strangers hiding behind a screen and keyboard, you have no context for which to respect them for what they do and don't believe, even if you don't agree with it.

Unless they believe the earth is flat in which case feel free to disrespect them.

All jokes aside, there are two ways to express opinions on the internet: Do so knowing that you're going to start a fight and it is directly your fault, or do so with someone whom you respect and know are going to respect you enough to have a civil discussion about it. In my opinion, the latter is the only way to not waste your breath on something and someone that is ultimately inconsequential in the bigger picture of your life.

So the next time you want to talk about your opinion, remember this helpful acronym:

Images courtesy of Pexels
Gif courtesy of a friend.