Necessary Extraction
I'm out for my walk, and I see my elderly neighbor checking on her plants and wildflowers that flank both sides of her long driveway. As we do here in this neighborhood, I call out a friendly howdy. After a couple minutes of talking about the maintenance people - how they should've been more careful last time they were here taking out brush around the power lines - we find ourselves in an interesting conversation about self-care, gratitude, and the power of choice. I haven't ever chatted for this length of time with her, and I already know we both come from completely opposite perspectives on most things. We do not worship the same, vote the same, or think the same in many regards but somehow, in this moment, we're finding common ground... a rarity in this day of divisiveness. Without naming names or issues, we're still agreeing on the things that matter: the ability to discuss without demeaning, the necessity of an open mind, the power to decide one's own atti...
