Director's Take

Meeting in the Middle

08-30-2024

Dear Friend,

I recently read a quote from Dr. Samantha Boardman, a psychologist and author, who said that the messaging in mental health is “super fixated on the individual rather than our connections in the world.” And I saw a similar quote about Americans experiencing “an epidemic in narcissistic behavior in a culture that is intrinsically self-conscious and selfish” … whoa.

I can’t lie, I’m a little worried about our society as a whole right now. Indeed, it does feel like our individual worlds have gotten a little smaller… we have lost the ability to find common ground with people that aren’t just like us, we don’t follow (or have forgotten) etiquette for public behavior, we drive as if we’re the only ones on the road, we toss litter on the street and assume someone else will clean up our mess. I’ve noticed these things big and small.

I’ve done a fair amount of traveling in Europe, which doesn’t share this selfish attitude in general, so I’ve been wondering if this is a natural state of a country which is still young? Or has our market-driven capitalistic society created this? Or did our beginnings, with the haves and have nots, create a chasm so broad we’ll never mend it?

We rely on ego and fear way more than we should. Let’s come away from the extremes to meet each other more in the middle. This country is great because it was founded as the melting pot for the world, and we should embrace that.

Downtown is the melting pot for our great city and region. And I hope to see you on the streets soon.