Pot stirrers: We are the people who like to wade in to a topic or issue, even if it's awkward, and look under stuff and address issues and expose inconsistencies and push boundaries so that it brings attention or potential change to something that might otherwise have gone unnoticed.
I'm sure some people do it because they like the attention. Some people like to start the fire, then sit back with their popcorn and enjoy the spectacle purely for entertainment. (You know who you are!) Some people are actually looking to stir up trouble and just be angry without productivity.
But some pot stirrers do it as a genuine desire to gain greater insight and productively fight the good fight. I am typically this type of pot stirrer, and I go in and out of pot-stirring phases. Right now, I want to stir all the pots. I've asked myself why, especially given that others are not pot stirrers, and still others are even agitated by all the stirring up of the perfectly calm pot.
The best I can gather is the following list. If you're a pot stirrer, maybe you'll identify with some of these. If you're not, maybe they'll help you understand all those annoying people around you who just won't leave well enough alone. Like yours truly.
10. Stagnancy Stinks
We cannot stand stagnancy. We hate it. Some people loathe change. We loathe the lack of it. Life is organic and developing, and if I am in a mental or spiritual stalemate, I lose my mind.
9. Blind Acceptance Is Lazy
Doing something 'that way' just because that's what you were told, or because that's the way it's always been done...is irresponsible. If there is a glitch in the system, why in heaven's name wouldn't we want to address it to make for smoother sailing ahead? And if there doesn't appear to be a glitch in the system, we always want to keep a wary eye open, just in case. Faults in the system can lead to all kinds of crimes against others. We hate injustice.
8. Authenticity Is Worth the Fight
Systems, cultures, and popular opinion are so very powerful. They tend to become a massive wave that moves the tide with force, carrying everything along with it. It is easy to go with the flow, and so often that is a source of strength for us, if the flow is on the right track. But if it's not, it takes a stronger pull against it to go another direction and examine why it's off course. We don't like feeling like we're being swept off course. We'd rather exert every last ounce of energy to swim out of that than relinquish our autonomy to a flawed system. We'd rather be uncomfortable and authentic.
7. We Love to Explore
We're deep diggers. We tend to philosophize. We are hungry for more information and love to ask "Why?" If everything is calm and settled, we know there's always more, so we want to see what's hiding under all that calm and find the treasure deep down below. One of my favorite proverbs says, "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search it out" (Proverbs 25:2). This Bible quote doesn't mean we should all be pot stirrers. It's just one that resonates profoundly with the pot stirrer in me.
6. Critical Thinking Is Not Obsolete, and Must Never Be
We think critical thinking is necessary for survival. In our day and age, it's actually probably not necessary for everyone; some seem to plug along without it, and we all have our lapses. But for us, to not analyze is death. That's super dramatic. I know. :)
5. Complacency Is Prison
What if things could be better? What if you feel like you're just sleepwalking, and it appears that loads of people around you are just sleepwalking, and you feel slightly heavy and drugged and robotic and then you suddenly snap out of it and shake your head back and forth and desperately want to wake everyone else up? That's really dramatic, too. But the pot stirrers, the boundary pushers, sometimes go there not because we're all really asleep but because we can see how the drug could easily settle in if the pot (not weed, but the friend of the kettle) doesn't get a nice, hefty swirl of the spoon. Stir it up! Yes, this one is very Matrix-y.
4. We Are Curiouser and Curiouser...
We're curious as all get out. It's sort of a repeat of #7, except less serious and intense. It can be light-hearted and good-natured, too. I don't know it all yet, and there's just SO MUCH TO KNOW! It's very exciting. When we don't have answers, we really want one. Stirring the pot brings interested parties out of the shadows, and maybe we'll learn something. Bonus!
3. Doctrine Is Very Seldom a Settled Matter
Speaking of not knowing everything... We're not wed to any doctrine. We think it's dangerous. There are only one or two things of which I've allowed my faith to be certain. Beyond that, until mankind knows everything, our opinions are not certainly accurate. Being open to new perspectives and viewpoints is wisdom. God's ways are higher than our ways. Get. Rid. Of. Your. Box. <--Sorry to be so bossy, sort of. Keep your box if you like. Your choice.
2. We Want Goodness and Truth to Win
And we want to be part of the fight. We are principled perhaps to a fault. We have to be careful that this part of our drive doesn't contradict and smush up #3.
1. We Want to Share the Wonder
...Because it's all so wonderful! We really think everyone should be thinking about whatever this oh-so-desperately-important issue is that is currently nagging us. Because they should be. Why isn't that obvious to everyone? ;)
So go easy on your fellow pot-stirrers. They're fighting the good fight! In the end, they stir the pot to serve up greater understanding.
And fellow pot stirrers, good luck with that fine line between fierce, motivated passion over here and palatable delivery to build a bridge over there; knowing when to speak here and when to remain silent ("Oh-dear-Lord-someone-please-hold-me-back-I'm-about-to-explode!") over there. That bit is tough for me. And if you can find another pot stirrer who's ready to get dirty and dig and hash it out--while not taking it too personally (because it's all way bigger than we are)--that's the best! High five.
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