From Sam:
We live in a time of polarization and social isolation that is both of our own making and exerted upon us by forces outside of our control. Social media has exacerbated this in ways we are struggling to reconcile.
Finding common ground requires openness. Agreeing to be honest and open isn't the same as agreeing on a single topic. Changing someone's mind doesn't happen in real time.
How can you plunge into civil disagreement with someone you respect without becoming angry about how they see things without abandoning your own beliefs? Is it possible to share your personal thoughts without being offended that someone you love doesn't agree or without taking personally the fact that they are different in their thinking that you are?
Finding commonality is the gateway to loving conversation. Slowing the conversation and asking for what you need from it, while allowing the same for other person is the key to narrowing the perceived gap between our beliefs and actions.
We're all human and we are all likely feeling a bit anxious about the condition of the world. What separates us most is our ability to argue, yet it is the most fundamentally important aspect of our nature as humans. No other species on the planet has the ability to imagine, create and disagree as much as we do as human beings. And at the same time no other species has can tear each other apart and destroy things as much as we do.
Conversation isn't art. It isn't poetry. It isn't industry. It isn't litigious. It's our unique gift.
Why do you feel this way? How do you see this issue? What makes you think this way? Is there something I don't know?
At the end of it all, love requires us to remain open.
I'm not religious, I'm spiritual...in my own way. Love is the universal spirituality. Strength resides in ones ability to hear what others have to say, not in adopting what they say as truth.
There is no way forward for humanity other than to accept each other's humanness. We're in this together so we might as well talk about all the crazy sh*t that is happening.
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