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No matter how halting, how tenuous, terrifying even, sometimes that first step you take turns out to be the biggest step you will ever take.
Infants know this to be true.
It’s also true when you decide to reach out and listen to someone with different viewpoints than you. None more so than discussing political thoughts and ideologies.
Today, the country seems to be divided politically. One side clearly has the correct answers, while the other side is just as clearly misguided, clueless, in the dark. Depending on which side you lean, that clueless side is on the other side from you. Always and forever.
But maybe not.
A new program called Take One Small Step, North Shore, attempts to bring people together who have divergent political opinions. “One Small Step helps us move beyond labels like “Democrat” and “Republicans” and into the life experiences that shaped how each of us sees our world.” That’s from the brochure; a sentiment also echoed by Barbara Jean Meyers, who works for WTIP Radio.
Today WTIP radio has been named as one of six stations nationally to host One Small Step in 2022, and Meyers is in charge of the program here.
“We’re inviting people to meet a fellow community member with different views or beliefs from them for a personal, 50-minute conversation to learn about each other’s lives,” said Meyers. “Conversations are hosted by a trained staff facilitator, and although they are recorded, participants are not obligated to share the recording (or even use their name). The goal is 100 percent about providing community members the experience of safely meeting someone different from them who they might never otherwise connect with. Conversations are not a debate. They are just a chance for two people to break the ice and talk about who they are as people, what they care about, and their dreams for the future.”
In its fourth year, more than 1,500 people across the country have participated in One Small Step, which Storycorps began.
And who are they?
Storycorps started in 2003 to connect people through interviews and “remind us of the inherent worth of every life and every story.” So far, more than half a million folks have been interviewed, which makes Storycorps the most extensive single collection of human voices ever recorded.
While One Small Step is still in its infancy here, Barbara Jean has learned, “The few conversations I have facilitated thus far have been really moving, and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes throughout the year. Our community is small enough that I think it’s possible to have a sizable impact. And I am also learning that we really aren’t as far apart as we think we are.”
If you are interested in taking that first small step, contact WTIPs website. It might not be as scary as you think.
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