Eventual Minds
"Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people."
- Eleanor Roosevelt on an insiprational poster in a class I once had
Yeah, it's hard to argue with that. And for the most part I would call it a good rule of thumb. But only in a perfect world would those different types of minds stay sectioned off and never divert. The truth is that great minds also discuss events and people, average minds discuss people and ideas, and even small minds discuss ideas and events.
Balance is a good thing. Usually balance makes everything come together at the middle. If one side has more weight than the other then there's no balance. On the high end are the ideas, and on the low end are people, but balanced right in the middle are the events.
Events can reach into the depths of both ideas and, oftentimes more personal and important, people. Events are what make up the content of our lives. You can really get to know somebody by talking to them about the "things" that they like or enjoy to do. All of the rest is contained there, though sometimes hard to see at first.
There's a balanced understanding when we connect to other people on the level or "events" or "things." Is it higher or lower than the level of philosophy or religion or love? I don't know, but it is there, it is valid, and it is a simple concept. Simple enough for me to find contentment in practicing it; useful enough for it to give me the insight I need in confusing moments to get through and start understanding again.
All minds discuss all things, only in different amounts. All minds are subject to events, no exceptions.