That change can start with us, right? That change starts with each of us. And that doesn't mean agreeing with or allowing harmful behavior from the other side. But it does mean not holding so rigidly onto the labels of which side we're on and seeing each other as fellow sentient beings. story um about a man who always sort of famously turned up to different disputes between groups wearing clothes that fashioned the symbols and slogans from both sides of the dispute. And so he'd turn up to game of sports wearing the colors and logos of both sides. And where there are feuding families and towns, he'd turn up wearing emblems of both uh conflicting nations. You know, he'd wear the flags of both and political rallies, the same sort of thing. And the story goes, you know, that he'd refuse to stand with one side or the other. Uh so he'd always wear both sides proudly and always kind of caused a bit of a stir, you know, a bit of commotion with that. um creating some confusion among others and upsetting people uh who you know who didn't think that they fit any any one line. And um he was asked one day he was asked by a boy you know isn't it confusing always wearing both sides you know who are you really who are you really when you when it comes down to it you know essentially how do you know who you are are you a liberal are you this or are you that if you don't sit with anyone side who are you and the man smiles and turns to the boy and and sort of echoing Shakespeare in a sense you know says life is like a play and we're all actors and we're all wearing wearing different masks, but it's what's beneath the mask that is really important. Beneath the mask, we're all the same. And so beneath these masks is something that we share equally, isn't it? You know, the wish for happiness, for safety, for peace. And so the man says, you know, we must see through the masks to see a harmonious way forward. And so in our lives and you know we I think we see it more and more um with each passing year the polarity you know we often hold very tightly on to these masks that we have these labels this side of a political fence or this n national identity this sports team this opinion and so on whatever it is you know you choose your mask. Um but people seem to cling very very tightly and then we're totally divided totally separate from others. there's no unity, there's no connection, there's no harmony. And even if the other side has a fair point, if they have an interesting opinion or a valuable comment on something, sometimes people are not able to see it because because it came from over there, it came from them. And so we kind of we have to sort of reject it. And yet, it's funny, right? As I often say, these labels change all the time. You might stand alongside someone today on a particular debate or a political side and you're you you stand with them united and then tomorrow you stand opposite them on a totally different topic and you identify with the topic and the and the debate of time. And what happens as we keep doing this we're always dividing ourselves in this way. And so when we divide ourselves in this way we lose any sense of cooperation because we've stuck ourselves in a box. We've put them in a box and those two boxes don't meet. There's no common ground. But for there to be some harmony in our world, we we must look through the masks, right? We must get down to the core, which is that you wish for happiness, safety, and peace. And I wish for the same thing. And we may express it differently because of our upbringings, our beliefs, and so on. But what's really important, what really matters is that sense of happiness, safety, and peace. And so, can we use our wisdom to see beyond the distinctions? And rather than focusing on what divides us, recognize that although yes, that's that's true on the surface level, what what connects us is the desire to be happy and free of suffering. And what connects us is more important than what divides us. Because how different would the world be if the most important thing was not who was right or wrong, but actually how we care for the welfare uh of all in the best way possible. There's no perfect solutions, but it would be better to focus on that. And that change can start with us, right? That change starts with each of us. And that doesn't mean agreeing with or allowing harmful behavior from the other side, but it does mean not holding so rigidly onto the labels of which side we're on and seeing each other as fellow sentient beings. And that includes the label of I'm not someone who sees labels because then you've just divided yourself in a different way. And so that can start with a simple question. Is there something you can agree with about the other side? About the other person? Is there something you can admire in the other person? In the other side? And it's a really interesting question. It breaks down the barriers if you're open to it. And um I came across a video not too long ago. I didn't see it when it when it happened. Um, but it was of some political debate between uh Hillary and Trump and somebody asked the question, can you tell us one thing that you admire in your opponent and it was it was really quite interesting. Um, it it cut through, you know, a debate that was of of quite a bit of animosity. Um, and you know, Trump said something about her sense of tenacity, her sense of never giving up. She she always fights for what she believes in. And she said something about, you know, his love for his son or something is something she can admire. And it's through that sense of just recognizing is there something I can admire, something that is human, something that I can recognize, something that unites us there that I can recognize, that builds a sense of connection. And through that sense of connection, there may be a harmonious way forward. We might find it. But if we don't come to the common ground of either you seek happiness and peace and safety just as I do or seeing the things that unite us, we won't find a harmonious way forward.