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How I Catch My Opinions

Utpal Vaishnav1 min read

Last revised

In July 2023, during a program that mattered to me, I learned a practice called CYO: Catch Your Opinions.

Sketchnote showing how an observer catches an opinion by examining contradictory evidence instead of defending it.

The cricket image stayed with me. When I catch a thought, interpretation, gesture, or intended response, I rename it: not a fact, an opinion.

Contradictory information often makes the opinion easier to notice because the expected fit breaks. Agreement can pass without the same scrutiny. This is a pattern I observe in myself, not a universal account of attention.

I use the practice while reading, in work conversations, and while reflecting later. Catching an opinion does not remove feeling or ego, and collective creativity does not become automatic. It gives me a pause in which to test the opinion, improve how I express it, or change it.

I am still changing how I do this.

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