Will and Harper gave me more a little hope. There were genuine moments of a compassionate America. But I worry about what lies below the surface. There's a simmering ugliness that has been permitted to rise up by those who have come to normalize it. I know it's not the majority of people, I hope, but it's still there, like a nagging awful allergy. I hold your optimism, but my hands are beginning to hurt from the grip I have on it.
Fully agree on this actually David. It's all that simmers below that worries me, and after watching videos like the Town Hall Meeting in Couer'd'alene from Saturday, we clearly have reason to worry and stay vigilant. My hands too are tired, it's why when I can, I keep trying to beef up the forearm muscles so they don't lose the power to hold ;)
I love the way you think and write. And as one who has also traveled around the globe, my experience agrees that “they are us”, and “we are them”. But my mind is not so much on travel. It is drawn to three examples which are related in nature, yet separate and poignant. As a nine year old, I watched my “ WWII hero” father slam the front door in the faces of two FBI agents, who demanded to search our house looking for an anti-Vietnam war activist brother in 1968. At that moment, my conservative “Republican” father changed to “they are us”. The second story is that my partner’s grandfather was a German soldier, whose home had been destroyed in the same city my father dropped bombs in WWII. When I learned of this during a visit to her grandmother in Germany, I realized “we are them”. I am sure we all have personal backgrounds and relationships that confound every typical characteristic of how an “American” is defined (especially by recent politicians). But even in our own minds, US Census data indicates 95 percent acknowledge only a single ethnic identity. Yet, DNA data analysis of 300k customers of Ancestry.com showed that the average ethnicity of an “American” is four of a potential 26 regions of the world, coming from 2.3 continents, and 8.5 different regional ethnicities! So, in many ways, there is no “them”, only “us”.
Dead on the money my friend. I often think of the 23andme and Ancestry DNA peeks into what truly makes up the vast, vast majority of us. I am a weird one, literally just Norse to Scottish and Irish, nothing else. SO many of us are just blends of everything, and yet we try so hard to act like we're one thing, all separate one things. We're not. I hope someday, we'll zoom out and realize this.
Thank you for this one.... compassion, understanding, love, patience, gratefulness, selflessness, are simply too easily forgotten.... there will be better times especially if hopefulness is one remembered....❤️
You're so right, they are the first on the chopping block once people start feeling scared, and I wish they realized if they just kept hold of those, they wouldn't feel so scared to begin with.
We also have to learn to talk to each other again. Social media has made it too easy to just assume and attack. If someone feels differently than you, instead of calling names and telling them they are wrong, we have to be open to other perspectives. On here just a couple weeks ago, someone called me shallow and self centered because I tried to offer up a different take on something. I didn’t even think it was that controversial of a viewpoint. This person who didn’t know anything about me made crazy assumptions because I didn’t agree with her. This makes people start to keep things to themselves. I’m always open to a conversation but once it turns into a battle, I’m out and then there was no point to it at all. We have to be open to communication and compromise.
You're so very, very right Andrea. It's so much easier to just assume the worst and wall ourselves off, and look where that's gotten us. Well said, all of this.
Will and Harper gave me more a little hope. There were genuine moments of a compassionate America. But I worry about what lies below the surface. There's a simmering ugliness that has been permitted to rise up by those who have come to normalize it. I know it's not the majority of people, I hope, but it's still there, like a nagging awful allergy. I hold your optimism, but my hands are beginning to hurt from the grip I have on it.
Fully agree on this actually David. It's all that simmers below that worries me, and after watching videos like the Town Hall Meeting in Couer'd'alene from Saturday, we clearly have reason to worry and stay vigilant. My hands too are tired, it's why when I can, I keep trying to beef up the forearm muscles so they don't lose the power to hold ;)
I love the way you think and write. And as one who has also traveled around the globe, my experience agrees that “they are us”, and “we are them”. But my mind is not so much on travel. It is drawn to three examples which are related in nature, yet separate and poignant. As a nine year old, I watched my “ WWII hero” father slam the front door in the faces of two FBI agents, who demanded to search our house looking for an anti-Vietnam war activist brother in 1968. At that moment, my conservative “Republican” father changed to “they are us”. The second story is that my partner’s grandfather was a German soldier, whose home had been destroyed in the same city my father dropped bombs in WWII. When I learned of this during a visit to her grandmother in Germany, I realized “we are them”. I am sure we all have personal backgrounds and relationships that confound every typical characteristic of how an “American” is defined (especially by recent politicians). But even in our own minds, US Census data indicates 95 percent acknowledge only a single ethnic identity. Yet, DNA data analysis of 300k customers of Ancestry.com showed that the average ethnicity of an “American” is four of a potential 26 regions of the world, coming from 2.3 continents, and 8.5 different regional ethnicities! So, in many ways, there is no “them”, only “us”.
The tide turns quickly
One point we are in carried in
The next, swept away
It’s not who we are
Or say, that is important.
Only what we do.
I was called a “name”
Yet looking in the mirror,
I only see “us”
Dead on the money my friend. I often think of the 23andme and Ancestry DNA peeks into what truly makes up the vast, vast majority of us. I am a weird one, literally just Norse to Scottish and Irish, nothing else. SO many of us are just blends of everything, and yet we try so hard to act like we're one thing, all separate one things. We're not. I hope someday, we'll zoom out and realize this.
Omg Will & Harper made me SOB. I love the sentiments you pulled from it. 🩶
I'm so glad you loved it too. What a thing.
Thank you for this one.... compassion, understanding, love, patience, gratefulness, selflessness, are simply too easily forgotten.... there will be better times especially if hopefulness is one remembered....❤️
You're so right, they are the first on the chopping block once people start feeling scared, and I wish they realized if they just kept hold of those, they wouldn't feel so scared to begin with.
Thank you for this. Much needed. Going to watch the documentary this week!
You're so very welcome. Let me know what you thought!
We also have to learn to talk to each other again. Social media has made it too easy to just assume and attack. If someone feels differently than you, instead of calling names and telling them they are wrong, we have to be open to other perspectives. On here just a couple weeks ago, someone called me shallow and self centered because I tried to offer up a different take on something. I didn’t even think it was that controversial of a viewpoint. This person who didn’t know anything about me made crazy assumptions because I didn’t agree with her. This makes people start to keep things to themselves. I’m always open to a conversation but once it turns into a battle, I’m out and then there was no point to it at all. We have to be open to communication and compromise.
You're so very, very right Andrea. It's so much easier to just assume the worst and wall ourselves off, and look where that's gotten us. Well said, all of this.