« Vacation Time | Main | Iraq Constitution »
August 23, 2005
Travels in the Sports World
I find it hard to return from wonderful vacations. I usually go through a period of wondering why the world is the way it is. I continue to live in the vacation fantasy world of doing what I want, when I want, in gorgeous places with terrific friends and family. My mind and body don't want to readjust to the work day world and the routines of house, commutes, kid duties and shopping. But here I am, infected with a sense that many of us live in ruts, caught in mindsets that are too often closed. Though many of us read papers, magazines and books, and listen to the news I feel that much of the intent is more to reaffirm what we already know than learn new ways of thinking.
I was a member of a debate team in high school. We had one subject we debated over the course of each year. As members of the team we researched our topic, gathering information to support either a pro or con position. We scoured newspapers, magazines, and books looking for anything to bolster our arguments. Senators and Congressmen were our favorite sources. During debates we would rifle through our card catalogues looking for some piece of information to counter our opponent's attack. Nothing that was said ever changed our minds, the information we had was a support tool, meant to reinforce a position we already had. Our listening skills focused on the game not the meaning of the discussion. The next debate we might switch positions where we would take the other side and do the same thing.
I found during my hiatus that too many of my friends and family seemed caught in the same type of thinking. Their positions on political or cultural subjects were already established. I did not feel they were really interested in listening. Articles or books they read were ammunition to further already established thinking. I could have been the foremost expert in my field and it would not have made a difference. That was disturbing.
So I come back wondering if I can somehow find a magic wand, a means to get people to stop for a time, to reassess their beliefs, to think outside the box, to put themselves in another's shoes for a time, to open their eyes in the hope that we get a better understanding of each other. It is a big hope, but I am determined to continue to try. That is what Political Sports is all about, trying to find a way to look and think about the amazingly wonderful, crazy, confusing, complex, irritating world we live in. So vacation is over, time to put the car in gear and get moving. There is much to do.
Posted by Chip Spear at August 23, 2005 9:03 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.politicalsports.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/100
Comments
resorted conservations preparative Packard,crowding gecko?pulsar
Posted by: cheep at September 20, 2006 4:47 AM
MacIntosh goatee collared gratuitousness.remarking .
Posted by: Anonymous at September 20, 2006 4:52 PM
qua.confiscation exasperating,distinguished maggot primeval!sequentiality microjump
Posted by: Anonymous at September 20, 2006 4:53 PM