Open Hearts

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. I’m the youngest of six, so when I was growing up, Thanksgiving meant my siblings who had gone off to college came home, filling the house with the comfortable noise and familiarity I missed while they were gone. Of course there’s the food, and the good weather and the promise of Christmas vacation coming up, but the gift of Thanksgiving is the intention: family, conversation, and simply being together.

Those of us who were lucky enough to experience a large family know that it isn’t always easy. I have parents who encourage freedom of thought, reading and other forms of education, which resulted in a large family with all sorts of differing beliefs. I am confident that we can get through any discourse, but I also believe that it takes conscious effort to do so.

When we’re sitting around the table at Thanksgiving or any holiday this year, it’s safe to say politics might come up. This isn’t about my family anymore, it’s about yours, too. We live in a country that’s severely divided and that division is within families as well.

In junior year English class, Mrs. Allie told us part of her job was to teach us how to listen. I was struck by that and think of it often, especially now that I am also an educator. We need to remember how to listen to each other. To get there, we need to be curious.

I’m not talking to those of you who elected Trump more or less than those who didn’t. At this point it is everyone’s responsibility to listen with open ears, with an open heart, and an open mind.

Conversations like these are more necessary than ever because many Americans get their news solely from Facebook. This is dangerous because Facebook uses an algorithm that caters to the viewer, only showing us the news that we are interested in. In short, we read what validates what we already believe. None of us, myself included, are getting all the news unless we go out and find it. This takes effort. It also takes talking to people who we don’t expect to agree with and, again, listening.

Glasgow and towns like it are so unique. I believe it is the people who live in towns like ours that can heal our country. We know how to get along despite differing beliefs. The holidays are a time to be face to face, perhaps with people we don’t see every day. If you can find it in yourself to listen to your neighbor, daughter, co-worker, about politics this holiday season, we might be able to find some common ground as a community and eventually as a country.