My Longstanding Concern for Common Concerns, and Empathy

I love Facebook Memories. Even more so as my advancing age conspires with COVID brain to loosen my mental ties to the past.

In my recent return to blogging, I have highlighted the importance of beginning discussions of guns with what we hold in common and my interest in empathy-driven conversations.

I thought these were new concerns born of my experiences in 2022. Little did I remember that these are actually longstanding concerns of mine that were reinforced last year.

To wit: Five years ago (thank you, Facebook Memories), I was a guest on John Johnston’s program Ballistic Radio. In the promo for my episode, John highlighted the following statement:

I don’t have much of a stomach for politics but I do think it’s important that we, as citizens of the United States, talk to one another about issues of common concern. And if we can start those discussions with more empathy… then I think we can get further in those discussions even if we never completely agree.

David Yamane on “Ballistic Radio”

I believe this all the more five years down the road.

I have been at this work for a long time. 10+ years and 900+ posts. I would be grateful if you could support my work by sharing it in your social networks. Likes, views, and followers help constitute my “platform” as an author, which I can use to sell my work to publishers.

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