Is it 'back to school' if you never left?
Last week I shipped my daughter off to her first day of middle school, my son to his first day of high school, and myself to Gonzaga University and Chicago Lab Schools, where I did my curiosity workshop and Q&As with some of the most energized and energizing group of students, faculty, and administrators I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet.
The new academic year begins! And even though I’ve been out of school for ages, I feel like I’m in class every day.
A Braver Way podcast has been out again for eight episodes now — each one asking that core question — “How do we meet division with strength?” — in a new way.
In today’s episode — round two of offering responses to questions you sent in — I invited April Lawson to help me on a tricky one: How do you respond when you want to explore someone else’s politics and they say that’s “none of your business”? (Find that moment at 35:42)
Among your other questions I take on in “Mailbox: Your questions on Trump, 'privilege', and compromise":
Does being open to compromise make me a moderate? — Alyssa in Utah
Why do we have such a hard time with people who are ideologically similar to us? — Cubbie in Washington
How do you stay curious without being overwhelmed, confused, or sucked into the fighting? — Bernie in Minnesota
And a real fun one that kicks us off:
I’m wondering if your parents (either or both) ever had doubts about their support for the president? — Rich in Florida
When I hear questions like these, it feels electric. They plug into the hopes and concerns of so many people I meet in this work.
And then I’m off, gathering responses in the stories I carry, the patterns I try to understand, and the challenges I know we’re all still getting to the bottom of.
Even if I’ve heard a similar question before, there are always new ways to answer.
Stay curious, all
