Minnesota Nice

What a week.

I know I’m not the only one constantly pushing refresh over the last few days.

As I’ve been thinking about the political and cultural divisions in our country, I’ve been thinking a lot about discourse.

I was raised in Minnesota where we have this known thing called “Minnesota Nice.”

Basically, it means that we don’t voice our opinions or concerns. You just bite your tongue, keep everything to yourself, and push it way way down. (I consciously overcame my “Minnesota Nice” a looong time ago 🙂

But “Minnesota Nice” means that things that might make people feel uncomfortable, like politics, aren’t discussed around the dinner table … or anywhere else for that matter.

These days, we don’t have to hear someone else’s perspective if we don’t want to. We can just block them from our feed.

We don’t have to watch the same nightly news as everyone else in the country. We can just lean on the sources of information that make us feel comfortable, giving us the information that we want to hear.

And the increased isolation we’ve all been experiencing over the last nine months only feeds this tunnel vision even more.

How do we listen and hear each other again, as a country?

I don’t have answers today.

But I do have questions:

  • How do we seek the perspectives of those with different opinions on a daily basis?
  • How do we create a culture of civil discourse around issues that matter?
  • How do we truly hear other people’s ideas?
  • And how do we speak up when it is most necessary?

Keep taking good care of yourselves.