Back when I was running for state rep in MA in 2018, I approached the door of a man (tinkering with his lawn mower outside) whose neighbor, driving by, joked "Don't even bother talking to him! He'd shoot Bambi if he could!"
I had a lot of doors to knock and could have easily kept going or simply let my schpiel fall on deaf ears, but my g…
Back when I was running for state rep in MA in 2018, I approached the door of a man (tinkering with his lawn mower outside) whose neighbor, driving by, joked "Don't even bother talking to him! He'd shoot Bambi if he could!"
I had a lot of doors to knock and could have easily kept going or simply let my schpiel fall on deaf ears, but my goal was not only to win, but also to begin mending our fracturing community.
So I asked him directly, with a lopsided smile: Seriously? Would you actually shoot Bambi? It turns out that yes, he would.
That led to one of the most memorable conversations of my campaign. The guy, a hard-core Trump supporter, was deeply concerned about the merciless bullying his daughter was getting at school because of his unpopular beliefs. We talked for nearly 30 minutes (wasted, according to the rules of a campaign, but perfect, according to my own), and both agreed that it had been incredibly valuable (though no minds were changed).
For me, one of the biggest antidotes to the fear-spiral is a combination of curiosity and humor. Humor and curiosity are intensely human and humanizing. That conversation, and the many like it I had for two years (and again in 2020 and again this year as I've continued to knock on hundreds of doors, now in Colorado) makes me genuinely optimistic about the possibilities of addressing the dynamic at the heart of this post.
It will not EVER, as far as I can tell, be accomplished indirectly, through mediation of any kind. It MUST occur at the level of the community. It is also, by the way, not a bad way of life. Getting out of the house, talking to people, learning about their lives, feeling more connected to those around us and grateful for what we have. And yes, much less fearful. Which is to say, heartened.
Back when I was running for state rep in MA in 2018, I approached the door of a man (tinkering with his lawn mower outside) whose neighbor, driving by, joked "Don't even bother talking to him! He'd shoot Bambi if he could!"
I had a lot of doors to knock and could have easily kept going or simply let my schpiel fall on deaf ears, but my goal was not only to win, but also to begin mending our fracturing community.
So I asked him directly, with a lopsided smile: Seriously? Would you actually shoot Bambi? It turns out that yes, he would.
That led to one of the most memorable conversations of my campaign. The guy, a hard-core Trump supporter, was deeply concerned about the merciless bullying his daughter was getting at school because of his unpopular beliefs. We talked for nearly 30 minutes (wasted, according to the rules of a campaign, but perfect, according to my own), and both agreed that it had been incredibly valuable (though no minds were changed).
For me, one of the biggest antidotes to the fear-spiral is a combination of curiosity and humor. Humor and curiosity are intensely human and humanizing. That conversation, and the many like it I had for two years (and again in 2020 and again this year as I've continued to knock on hundreds of doors, now in Colorado) makes me genuinely optimistic about the possibilities of addressing the dynamic at the heart of this post.
It will not EVER, as far as I can tell, be accomplished indirectly, through mediation of any kind. It MUST occur at the level of the community. It is also, by the way, not a bad way of life. Getting out of the house, talking to people, learning about their lives, feeling more connected to those around us and grateful for what we have. And yes, much less fearful. Which is to say, heartened.