It seems that the saying “two truths can exist at the same time” is gaining traction in our social conversation. This is an entry point into both how I understand and am reframing ambivalence, a word which is mostly misunderstood, maligned, and sidelined, while ironically being a central and powerful part of our everyday experience.

Ambivalence means:

1: simultaneous and contradictory attitudes or feelings (such as attraction and repulsion) toward an object, person, or action

2a: continual fluctuation (as between one thing and its opposite)

b: uncertainty as to which approach to follow

—Merriam-Webster Dictionary

the fact of having or showing both positive and negative feelings about somebody/something

—Oxford English Dictionary

But what happens with these conflicting feelings, the likely tensions between them, and the idea of uncertainty? Are contradictory attitudes and feelings integrated, or do they exist separately? What do positive and negative feelings about somebody or something really mean?........

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