Set Your Intention

While I don’t make New Year’s resolutions anymore, I do like the idea of setting an intention for the new year or maybe a few intentions.

Connection is the word on my mind.

The idea of connection and how we connect (or don’t) was one of the inspirations for my podcast, Community Possibilities. I was curious as to how we could move past partisan arguments and focus on real community change.

I love StoryCorps so was excited to learn about One Small Step, founded by David Isay. His vision was to pair people with different beliefs for a 50-minute conversation about their lives, not politics. Each conversation is archived at the Library of Congress. Isay was inspired by Contact Theory, which suggests that meaningful interaction between people with opposing views can help turn “thems” into “us-es.”

I hope you will check it out. One Small Step made me think of the conversation I had on Community Possibilities with Dr. Tom Wolf about his involvement with Hands Across the Hills. The grassroots group formed in 2017 and comprised of 25 individuals, residents of rural Western Massachusetts and residents of Eastern Kentucky coal country. Their goal was to meet face to face with people from a community that voted differently, to better understand each other.

So, this year, let’s seek first to understand, then connect!

If you know someone that would be a great guest for the show, please let me know.

Take care friends!

Ann