Connection in the time of Polarization: Election 2020

Anxiety? Anger?
Hope? Despondency?
…Possibility?

Conflicting emotions are swirling through our bodies—and our body politic—as we stare down the calendar towards November 3.

2020 has tested us in most every conceivable way, and we’re ready to scream “uncle!”

The Germans have word for how many of us are feeling, lebensmüde. Life-tired.

This upcoming election season, some of us fear, could be the knockout punch for our increasingly fractured nation. But we are not doomed to dissolve into hate, violence, and fear.

We are Americans.
We can harness our power.
We can work together to write a different story.

What if, instead of being the tipping point towards disenfranchisement and despair, this election season tips us back towards each other?

Imagine if we looked back at this moment and realized this was the beginning of an unprecedented season of healing?

Over the next ten weeks, what small steps could we each take to shift us towards this new reality?

Our new 2020 Election Resources Page can help.

It contains so much of what we need to nourish our capacity to work together. You’ll find:

  • Dozens of relevant (and some new!) conversation guides broken into “gentler” and “more challenging” levels, to meet you where you are.
  • Balanced news coverage to inform you before you enter into conversation.
  • Links to conversations you can join hosted by us, and support for hosting your own conversation.

Summoning the courage to fight for the country we love, to live into the promise of who we are, as people and as a nation, is never easy.

But the only way out is through, and the only way through is together.

We have ten weeks, domestic peacekeepers.

Let’s DO this.
Yours,
Shannon Mannon
Newsletter Editor