It is 2017 and time for new year’s resolutions, or to think about what we resolve to do in the next year. I resolve to be more involved and actually do the things I think about doing in the community every year, all of which involve talking to other people. Sometimes we don't feel like talking, or making the effort, knowing the level involved in actually achieving a goal. But I am sure once I start I will find it worth it.
When I was at T.C. Williams I started a communications club, and every week we would get together and do exercises that would help us better communicate with people. One exercise was to draw concentric circles, and put your family or closest friends in the center circle, people you talk to once a week in the next circle, once a month in the next, etc. Soon you realized who was in what circle. This year we learned that we don't talk to people outside our own circles enough. Whether we just talk to our friends on Facebook, or those we see day to day, we know not enough of us reach out to understand people who don't agree with us. I resolve in the new year to do this.
In order to solve problems facing all of us, we need to talk to more people. Maybe it is the people in Northern Virginia talking to the people in Southwest Virginia, through cultural exchanges, or schools setting up sister schools. But maybe it is also people right here in Alexandria who are not the people you talk to everyday. Maybe it is going somewhere different for coffee, or deliberately attending a meeting or community event on a topic you don't know much about. Or when you shop local, go into a shop you don't normally shop at and talk to the owners or employees. I think it is incumbent on all of us, to reach out beyond those that we know will give reassurance we are headed in the right direction, to talk to people who may challenge our perceptions, and teach us something we don't know about ourselves. It will certainly make 2017 more interesting.
Boyd Walker
Alexandria