#801 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Wednesday November 22)
Good morning,
We’ve just passed 800 Musings Beyond the Bunker. When added to the original Musings From the Bunker, that’s 1200 missives over the past 3 ½+ years. Thank you for sharing your mornings with me and my Musings. I’m told that often I’m musing about the same things you are and that makes it particularly fulfilling!
So, you may ask yourself, why is this nut still doing this? A good part of this, of course, is to be able to provide something entertaining, interesting, or thought-provoking to friends each weekday morning. But what else is a motivator?
THE START OF THIS EXERCISE
The “origin story” of this initiative is that I began writing these daily missives on March 14, 2020, at the onset of the COVID pandemic. I did so for three reasons:
Discuss the pandemic, its historical antecedents and what isolation and avoidance would mean
Address the upcoming election and the Constitutional and societal strains I felt would come to fruition (although I didn’t imagine some of the fallout…)
Try to provide a diversion where people could share activities they were pursuing during the lock-down, share anxieties and concerns, and cope together with the separation from the familiar and the ordinary.
As Covid started receding as the global health crisis that it was (notwithstanding revisionist views to the contrary) and the election came and went, my primary motivations later evolved in moving “Beyond the Bunker” in mid-2021 to:
Providing commentary on issues of importance and consider solutions to these issues in ways that reflected the thinking of more moderate “centrists” such as myself and, I believed, those who read the Musings
Share ideas to address some of the “wicked problems” of the day
Provide a vehicle whereby people of different perspectives can exchange ideas without screaming at each other
Offer some suggestions, observations and different perspectives on entertainment, the arts, and other diversions (also known as “fun”)
WHAT ISSUES ARE IMPORTANT?
As to commenting on issues, there are some where I am immovable on the importance of preserving our democratic institutions and holding our leaders (and each other) to ethical standards. That said, I believe most other issues are capable of rational analysis and good faith debates among rival factions to achieve forward progress. I think too often people dig their heels in, resisting the temptation to moderate their positions, become so committed to resisting nuance, and/or don’t try to understand the views of those with competing interests and values. This tribalism is eating away at our civic order at levels unprecedented since the Civil War. The more people are willing to speak with each other and, importantly listen to each other, while citing facts and relating experience and examples, the better it will be for everyone.
I may be Pollyanna-ish, but I believe conversation and listening is what we need the most. I have often been told that what I’ve written on a specific topic is what the reader was thinking but couldn’t quite put it into words. Others have sent a Musing to a friend or relative with whom there is disagreement. This is exactly what I would have hoped. I don’t expect to delve into any issue to any great depth in these Musings, which don’t go on for more than three pages (a seven minute read). The point is to explore the issue, perhaps cite some data, but lay out a coherent explanation for what I believe is a more-or-less centrist point of view.
BUT DON’T SELL FUN SHORT!
As for the rest—whether books, poetry, music or TV—it’s about sharing with friends and hopefully sharing a particular find that excited me. Hopefully some of these suggestions might stimulate you in the same way. Some of the best responses I’ve received are books that people found interesting, TV shows and movies that were profound, poetry that moved, and music that entertained.
SHARING
Finally, I write because it helps me think about things and allows me to speak with a wide range of friends all at once. I delight in reading responses and disagreements. This is, after all, about communication. Writing calms me and focuses me in these confusing times. As to the amount of personal information I share, I’m fine with being an open book.
As opposed to the world where our data is being stolen from us and used to push items for purchase that we probably don’t need, raise money, or deliver us misleading information with confirmation bias, the information I share is of my choosing. Sometimes it’s embarrassing, sometimes it’s deep, but all of it is stories of which I’m proud (or, at least, not ashamed) and which form the person I am. Some of these anecdotes and memories of bygone days will stimulate in some people memories of their own pasts. Perhaps the act of an ordinarily private person sharing some of himself will encourage others to be more open, as we all seek to build community in a world in which these connections often are sorely lacking.
IN CLOSING
And so, the counter continues, as we continue toward 1300 Musings, which should occur around the four-year mark this March, in this experiment that we are sharing together.
Thank you for allowing me a little time each weekday morning to visit with you.
Wishing you all good things in this holiday of thanks and through the festive season ahead.
Warmly, Glenn