People, places, locations,

all part of the same story

Something I’ve learned, or come to realize, since starting on my journey around the country in 2017 is how much we are what our places are. Communities that identify us. We identify with them. A small rural town takes on an identity of the population, just as a neighborhood does in a big city. Neighborhoods are little towns within the city. Just like states, they compete for services, recognition, political favor, and opportunity. Some get overlooked, fall out of favor, become unimportant. Some we build imaginary walls around. Others become favorites and prosper for various reasons. 

Ideas, thoughts, have come out of my conversations as I start connecting the dots on so many things. Our past has made today possible. Yet many tend to forget what America was built on. America is about ideas, values, beliefs, family, communities, and stories. It was founded as a community of diverse peoples who shared a dream of a better place and life. Immigrants, many of whom didn’t speak English helped build out America. They settled in the communities around resources and industry. Hard work was rewarded and families grew. Young kids who saw opportunities, and a better life, were educated. The American Dream was spreading. Anything was possible. Along the way we invented, and created, and prospered. 

Today we are at a crossroad with that past. Some holding on to it, some discarding it, some building on it, some destroying it. We can learn a lot from our history, as we build out our future. 

For many today, that crossroad is hyper political. Everything is political. Everyone has a voice. Everyone has their favorite media platform, and everyone has an opinion. Today the media platform is a community much like the past, our new place, neighborhood, community, and our story. What we do with it can build us up or tear us down.