Digging for Truth

I am fascinated with the past. In college I took many anthropology courses and volunteered on several archeological digs in Southern California. Archeology is more than just digging up pieces of treasure. Archaeology is the study of the human past through material remains to understand human culture. The discipline has many relevant processes that can be applied to how one analyzes and receives information, to understand the past and perhaps better know the future. One of my favorite jobs on the site was shifting through the tons of dirt and debris that was shoveled into giant mesh screens. Here, I had the opportunity to increase my upper body strength by holding on to the wooden sides of the box and shift it back and forth as the loose, smaller pieces would drop through the screen creating a fine mist of earth that would mound up below. The larger and perhaps important pieces of rock, bone, charred wood, or pottery would remain on the screen to be observed and studied. When something interesting was discovered, it was carefully looked at, picked up and placed in a container or bag that was numbered and stored for further analysis. With more experience I was invited to do some actual digging with trowels, brushes, and even old dental picks and toothbrushes. Carefully I would smooth layers in precise patterns and slowly and methodically uncover materials in a manner as to understand their relative position to each other. This proximity of item to item and its careful measurement in relation to each other is as critical as the artifact itself. It gives context and information that helps understand the materials found. Asking questions leads to more questions, which leads to trying to determine, as best one can, about the relationship between the artifacts found, their location, their utility and perhaps piece together answers. Through this lens of discovery, analysis, looking at context and proximity of information, often an intelligent hypothesis can be offered, written, discussed, and debated. The hypothesis, if solid, can withstand the chipping away at its foundation and still be intact having weathered a barrage critical questioning and scrutiny. Now take this same process and look at information and news and think of what we can learn from this discipline if we apply it. Can you imagine laying out all the information one has on a topic or event. There are many questions to ponder. Do you even disturb the site? Once a story is uncovered what materials and information is lost by removal? What is the topography of the story? What is a plan to uncover layers of information? What do you do with that information? As you shift through it, what bigger pieces come to light and what can be put aside or discarded? What is the size of the story? How deep do you dig? What is the relationship of the pieces of information you find and what is their relationship to each other? What do you measure, record and take back to your lab or office for further analysis? Imagine if the fourth estate, our public press, actually did all this with each news story. As a reporter develops the narrative for TV, print or social media, imagine that they actually engage in this type of due diligence. They would ask question after question of the subjects in their story. They would look at facts and lay out pieces as if they were a puzzle and they would attempt to build a structure based on what is found. Once placed in a pattern, it may reveal a narrative, or it may not, yet the whole of a story should unfold like a disorganized group of pottery shards carefully and if meticulously pieced back together would recreate an artifact as close to the original as possible. News stories based on the actual facts such as who, what, where, when and how are the marrow of a news story. Everything laid out for all to see and then try to understand. Today however, too many institutions including the news, their owners, management, editors, and reporters, operate from the opinion and entertainment side for clicks, and revenue and not on the news side. It has come to pass that so called news has become polemic in America and our Western Civilization. What was once fairly placed on the opinion page is almost always placed on the front page. Pre-determined narratives trump following the story and where it leads. The sad part is many find the silo of information that fits their world view and then amplify it. Many tend to have a myopic view of the world and seek those bits of information that bolster their opinions rather than being open to the possibility of new or different information. He’s some suggestions to overcome our current impasse. It’s time to use eduction, which means to draw out or elicit and even work out from given facts. Look at all sides of an argument or story and let the reader/viewer come to their own conclusion. There is something unique in the social identity of Americans. We have more in common than the news would have us believe. Our social fabric, though frayed, can be restored if we moderate the vitriol and focus on what we have in common. Do a little more digging on your own. Don’t let the talking heads of the legacy media leave you with talking points to confirm what you think you believe. Challenge yourself to look at the opposing ideas and see if there is something equally as reasoned on the other side. I try to “Duck Duck Go” web search a writer’s name to see and read other pieces of their work so that I better understand their position and world view. It is more time consuming, yet if you want to get a more rounded look at an issue, then the work must be done. Alexis de Tocqueville, the French diplomat and political philosopher wrote, “The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.” Digging for the truth helps us fully understand and repair our faults. https://kimmonson.com/kim_monson_show/digging-for-the-truth/

Somnambulant, No More

I remember learning about the word somnambulant, the habit of walking while asleep, when I was in Junior High School. My English teacher would give us words of the day and we would get “brownie points” if we used that word during class. For some reason that word stuck in my repertoire of verbiage, and I look forward to using it when appropriate. After the recent elections in Virginia, New Jersey, and here in Colorado I now know people are waking up to the idea that we Americans are very close to losing this beautiful republic. Most people are busy living their lives. They go about their business trying to care for themselves, their families, and perhaps a circle of friends. Most people do not pay attention or take an active role in politics or public policy; that is until it effects their children or their personal lives. After a year and a half of watching their kid’s sub-par education online, a stirring of outrage, which was simmering, has now hit the boiling point. There were plenty of good teachers doing their best to teach virtually. Many figured out the medium and had success given the circumstances. Yet, many of their students lost a year of education, a year of personal connection, and a year of growing due to the fear and misinformation by PBI’s, Politicians, Bureaucrats, and Interested parties as my friend Kim Monson says. PBI’s can do a lot of damage to community, the economy, and even one’s livelihood, but dang it, don’t mess with our kids! This was the awakening and vigorous pushback that was felt by certain elected officials during this recent election. “We the People” will no longer be somnambulant. We are reestablishing our authority over these PBI’s and are no longer going to settle for being told how we should raise our kids or grandkids; even if Merrick Garland calls us “domestic terrorists.” It’s been said the pendulum swings both ways and at some point, it settles on an equilibrium; a center point if you will. Here is the problem. The enthusiasm of today is often quickly replaced with the overwhelming task of making changes that are lasting and can have permanent results before the next election cycle. Will parents continue being persistent and push choice in education as a movement? From personal experience once kids leave their K-12 experience many parents are no longer active in their local schools. Why would they? Their children have moved on. Even so, it’s our civic duty to stay engaged. The education of our children is too important to be left to those PBI’s and teachers’ unions. If you own a house in your community, you are on the hook as a taxpayer for your local schools. You should have an active interest as a stakeholder in your local school district just like you would in your 401K, or any other investments. I offer the following suggestions for you to consider. Go to a local school board meeting. Observe and listen to the language being used. Take notes and listen for words and patterns of ideas that you have questions about. Get to know the school board members and understand their positions on issues. Find out who controls the school budgets, where funds are allocated, the curriculum being taught, and the direction of the local school board prior to any controversy so you have creditability with those in elected. Band together with like-minded parents and community members to watch, report, and influence others as to what is happening in your local school and make your voice heard when you notice “mission-creep.” Insist your local schools teach foundational ideas of citizenship, civics, and how to think, not what to think. Support schools by joining an auxiliary program or a community service group like the Optimist Club or Kiwanis Club that provide programs and scholarships for children and are role models in the community. Volunteer in a classroom or serve on a committee at a school or offer to be a guest lecturer as a subject matter expert. I have taught public speaking skills and government in my local schools. I have presented industry programs on the culture, science, and beauty of floriculture to Preschoolers and Kindergarteners. I have banded together with parents to help form a charter school, which unfortunately did not meet with success. I have actively supported teachers by conducting field trips to our State Capitol and Supreme Court. I have volunteered for such school activities as debates, academic brain bowls, and history fairs. I have remained active even after my kids moved on to college. Do I have the time for these activities? Heck no. Yet, Conservatives must be involved in education and be vocal, and active. Education is too important to be left to the Left. The source of all wealth is the mind. The minds of our youth cannot be wasted on worrying about their skin color (melatonin levels), whether they have privilege, or someone’s safe space. Our kid’s educations must be focused on learning. We must help them understand the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Technology will play an ever-increasing role in their lives, yet when students cannot read cursive and don’t know about citizenship or facts such as America was an idea founded in 1776 and expressed beautifully by Thomas Jefferson in America’s Declaration of Independence, then we have bigger problems than an election cycle. We must encourage the reintroduction of shop classes, home economics, and real-world skills back into our schools and partner with industry to help conduct and pay for these partnerships. We need to move away from one size fits all kids. We must encourage better programs for special needs kids, not by throwing money at them but by investing in their independence and success. Communities that have the best interest of students, parents, teachers, administrators, and staff are often pitted against the teachers’ unions who are worried about their political power, not education, nor the outcomes of students. Someone must continue stoking the flames of perseverance. Someone must be persistent and determined to keep the education system on the intended track of opening minds to a world of ideas that will help, not harm them. Human ingenuity and technology have always advanced mankind. Yet, the innovations that are needed in the future will only come with a grounding and solid foundation of a classical education that made Western Civilization great, warts and all. I am hopeful that parents and community members continue to stay active in their local schools long after their kids move on. Otherwise, we may just lose the idea of America. I am hopeful you will no longer be somnambulant.

Trading Up

“Metal doesn’t care what you look like” – Chloe Hudson. Don’t blink. You just might miss my cameo in this awesome documentary from #PragerU called “Trading Up." Plus, I get to open up for the great mikeroweWORKS. https://bit.ly/3FM6MCs #TheMikeRoweWorkFoundation #JoeGibbsRacing #PowerTechnicalSchool #TheRichDadCompany #tradesmen #dirtyjobs Thanks to Justin Folk for the fun opportunity.

Help Wanted

“Hey Brad. Do you know any good people who want to work?” I laughed, and said “Yes, but I’m already working.” My friend, a retail florist, is desperate to find a good employee who is self-motivated and competent, and she is willing to pay over market price for their time and talent. Yet, she has no takers and therefore she has had to stop taking wedding business because her everyday business would suffer. Finding people to fill positions in the workforce today is a task that often makes the cleaning of the Augean Stables look easy. Weekly I receive calls or have conversations with a customer, supplier, wholesaler, retailer, and networking groups all asking for help in finding qualified people to fill their empty positions. I have listened to many of the reasons given why so few people are applying for work. The government handouts are making it easy to stay home, the fear of catching the Wuhan virus, or not wanting to do a certain type of work. Yet that does not solve the issue of finding qualified workers for employers. What’s a business owner to do? I posed the question to my Mastermind group, a group of like-minded entrepreneurs who study and practice the science of success. Sure enough, golden nuggets of wisdom came pouring out. Here are some ideas that were discussed. First, we agreed that good employees often attract other good employees; the “birds of a feather flock together” idea. Good workers undoubtedly know others in their sphere of influence that might be attracted to working in a similar environment. Working for companies whose management values and rewards pride in work and recognizes employees for their accomplishments often attract employees more so than money. Do not underestimate the power of hiring happy people. I once had an acquaintance many years ago ask me about finding an employee prior to the “Dotcom Burst”. She told me the people she would hire had the right skills, yet they had a bad or negative disposition and would cause work-place issues or would quit once they were trained. My suggestion to her was to “hire happy”. In other words, hire someone who is enthusiastic, friendly, and is pleasant to be around for your internal and external customers. You can teach skills, you can’t teach happy. The “bad apple in a barrel” idea. Good employees welcome the opportunity to talk and even brag about their jobs if they enjoy the work and feel a sense of pride in what they do. Asking permission to record a testimonial on the value of their work and what they like about their business is a good way to get employees to sing a business’ praises and attract others. Testimonials work to attract customers; they will work attracting new hires as well. If an employee is camera shy, suggest a written or recorded testimonial. Post these stories on your company’s social media sites. Micro-target these brag-boasts via e-mail or text to prospective hires. And on the topic of social media, make sure you have a presence on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube, at the very least. If you are not doing so currently, hire an intern or a young person looking for experience so you both win. If you are not online in today’s marketplace, you do not exist. Prospects are in the habit of interviewing companies just as much as companies are in interviewing prospective employees. Many workers today are looking for the flexibility of working remotely, especially in sales and if a company is not willing to entertain this, they may be overlooked. Treat prospective employees as an entrepreneur so their talents and special skills are considered as part of the hiring process. Offering current employees some sort of compensation, such as a finder’s fee or giving additional time off, are ways to incentivize. “Tell-a-Friend” programs can encourage employees to suggest prospects for their employer. Of course, there are the traditional channels of job placement sites, head-hunters, and social media placements, all of which produce various results. One of the best suggestions I have heard is to constantly be recruiting people who have a great disposition and are service focused so when you have a position available there is a reservoir of names you can pull from. I have a friend who dined out frequently in local restaurants. The friendly servers and the good food would keep him coming back, but a by-product was that he also got to know who these people were and how they approached their customers. One of his employees retired. Without missing a beat, my friend hired one of the restaurant servers because he knew they were service oriented and had a good demeanor. This person went on to be one of his best salespeople. As a Toastmaster I have learned that public speaking also has a component of public listening. The biggest opportunity in hiring today seems to be more listening and less talking about your company. Asking questions like, “What questions do you have for us?” invites the self-motivated and the curious. “What question should we have asked you?” gets the prospective employee to think on their feet and answer in terms of what is important to them. Finding a good match for employees and employers today is certainly different from when I started in business 40 years ago, yet something is constant. The relationship. Finding a way to close the gap between what you have to offer as an employer and how the prospective employee perceives your business is perhaps the biggest challenge to today’s businesses. The story is told of a stable needing cleaning filled with the usual stable substance. A young boy is put to work by a rancher to clean up the stables. The boy enthusiastically takes the shovel and heaves the muck into a wheel barrel. The rancher is amazed and asked the boy why all the enthusiasm? The boy smiles and says, “there must be a pony in there somewhere”. Look for happy employees who are not afraid to pick up a shovel. https://kimmonson.com/featured_articles/help-wanted/

Comply, I don’t think so!

In elementary school, I was told to color between the lines. I often did not. I creatively expressed myself outside the lines until I was instructed to conform to the image on the page. If I had continued down that creative path, I may have become a great artist celebrated for my unique style and bold strokes outside the ordinary, outside the lines. Yet, I did conform because a teacher insisted on it.

I was told to share my toys when playing with others and conform to the social norm of keeping harmony. I would think to myself, “but they are my toys.” Why do I need to share my possessions to please someone else just because they desire it? I was forced to conform and give up my possessions because someone else thought I should do so.

In a civil society we are told we need to conform to get along; to make things function in an orderly way. Often, we are told we must do for others first. We are coerced through peer pressure, or family or government to do something because others want us to or mandate us to or force us to. I fundamentally reject this assertation of conformity by coercion.

It may be nice and considerate to think of others first, such as when opening a door for someone if I get to it first. Or, letting someone go ahead of me in a check-out line if they have only one item and I have a cart full of stuff. That is just a common courtesy and I do it often. I like to do things voluntarily when an opportunity arises or to invest in others because it makes me feel better as an individual to share when I want to, not when some authority figure demands I do so.

I voluntarily receive a flu shot every year, even this past year. I did this to lessen the chance of catching a virus since I would normally travel for business several times every month, working trade shows, attending board meetings, and making sales calls. I was perhaps being optimistic that I would travel again sooner than later. The flu, the common cold, and many other illnesses did not disappear when the Wuhan virus appeared. There is still a chance of catching one of these common illnesses even with a once-a-year vaccination.

The Wuhan pandemic changed everything through fear, uncertainty, concern for one’s own safety, and the safety of those we care about. At first, through an abundance of caution, we voluntarily isolated ourselves with our immediate families or individual situations for two weeks to “flatten the curve.”  Then, we were told by experts to wear a mask to help slow the spread of the virus. Then, we were told do not wear a mask, then wear a mask, then social distance, (no thanks, I physical distance, yet stay socially engaged), wash your hands for twenty seconds, then put on lotion to keep your hands from falling off, then wipe down every surface, then, sanitize everything, etc., etc., etc…

I am through complying with commands from so-called experts. Their opinions are just that, opinions. Their educated guesses can be considered; however, their perspective should not be mandated into law. We are better served as a nation to have a debate, discussion, and then legislation if needed. Even if it saves one life it is not a reason to force others to do something against their will. I am more concerned about living my life fruitfully and without fear, than cower in the world of, “what if.”

Many people I know, especially older family members and friends are getting the COVID-19 vaccine, which in reality has not been approved by the FDA and is still an experimental drug. That’s great for them. It has given them a sense of relief that they can start to resume their lives again. I was on the fence weather I should get the experimental drug myself. Then, that old feeling of when I was a kid and being told I must do this for the good of others reared its’ head. I have done my research. I am being badgered by my doctor, family, and friends to get the experimental drug. The more people push me to conform, the less I want it.

Celebrities, politicians, friends, and family show themselves receiving their shots, or show their experimental drug cards on social media as if to state, I conformed, I am considerate, I am doing what must be done to get back to normal. Others, have a badge around their social media picture, extolling their perceived virtue.  Yet? Is this the path to normal? Conforming to what others insist you do? Isn’t this conformity a new way of shaming those who do not comply? Now, the government wants to add their weight to the scale. Are “vaccine passports” far off?

Recently, Jen Psaki, President Biden’s Press Secretary, answered the rumors that the Biden administration was developing a vaccine passport. “We are going to provide guidance, just as we have through the CDC. There’s currently an interagency process that is looking at many of the questions around vaccine verification, and that issue will touch many agencies as verification becomes an issue that will potentially touch many sectors of society.” Psaki continues, “A determination or development of a vaccine passport or whatever you want to call it will be driven by the private sector. Ours will more be focused on guidelines that can be used as a basis.” Psaki’s statement reminds me of a former president’s phrase “if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.”

It is only a matter of time before politicians, bureaucrats and interested parties will be requiring private business to follow their public rules which will include showing your “papers” or an app with the appropriate social rating score to enter a public library, a concert, or a sporting event. The technology exists to digitally follow your every move and make you comply with the people in power. This social stigma is now enforced with mask mandates which, in my research, do more harm than good. There are experts on all sides for and against this argument. So too with vaccines.

A risk calculator from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention last updated February 21, 2021, notes my risk of catching the Wuhan Virus is high for my age group, 36 in 1000 https://www.omnicalculator.com/health/covid-mortality-risk. Putting this into perspective, your risk of your home catching fire is 1 in 219. The risk of a serious car accident is 1 in 18. The risk of becoming disabled on the job is 1 in 14. Even at these high-risk levels, I will take my chances. Living is a risk.

The incremental usurpation of our individual liberties continues to erode day by day. Getting a vaccine should be a person’s free and informed choice. If a private business wants to mandate mask-wearing, they should have the choice to do so. If a private business wants to offer mask-less service, they should have the choice to do so as well. Then customers can decide where they want to do business. That’s the beauty of a free exchange society. Trading value for value. When politicians, bureaucrats and interested parties use coercion and threats of revocation of business licenses under the guise of businesses mandating behavior, that is not the free market at work.

My research notes the vaccine offers a false sense of security and is just another power play by those in control. If individuals choose to get the experiential drug, that is their personal decision. However, there are many like me that are not sold on the ability of this experiential drug to eradicate the virus. If this experimental drug is as safe as so many medical experts opine, why not open up the opportunity to try other experimental drugs for cancer treatments or other medical conditions?

I prefer to wait it out until all those who want to take the experimental drug, can get it.  I think I will mull it over for a year or two and then consider it or perhaps by then we will be at herd immunity. But, as of today, I will not comply.

There are many who will try to “vaccshame” me into getting the vaccine. Like anything else in our current identity-driven, false systemic racism, and overly woke world, I may be chided because I choose not to go along to get along. #stopvaccshaming #mybodymychoice #Iwillnotcomply

Listen to my interview at; https://kimmonson.com/kim_monson_show/humor-and-enjoyment-of-life/

Catching Leprechauns

People love celebrating holidays and special occasions. On Independence Day I often dress up as Uncle Sam and recite the Declaration of Independence. On Halloween, I build a Haunted House to spook the kids in my neighborhood and give them a chilling experience dressed as some monster or ghoul. On St. Patrick’s Day, I wear green, listen to traditional Irish music, eat corned beef and cabbage and raise a glass of Guinness to the Saint’s honor. St. Patrick’s Day is special to me, for it is also my birthday. I have always felt a kinship to the Irish people because of this. I love their history, literature, sense of humor, and their myths.

The leprechaun in Irish folklore is intriguing with their short stature and mischievous merriment, hiding their pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The real gold is sharing the celebration of our unique cultural heritage. Celebrating other people’s special holidays, backgrounds, and experiences is one of the joys of life.

Yet, today in some hyper-sensitive enclaves, especially on college and university campuses, you can only celebrate from afar. Cinco de Mayo is observed on May 5th to commemorate the Mexican Army's victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla. If celebrated by wearing a Mexican sombrero, poncho, and throwing back some Coronas with chips and salsa watch out. Someone is likely to shout, that’s cultural appropriation, especially if you are not Hispanic. Juneteenth is known as Freedom Day, a holiday celebrating the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States. If celebrated with a barbecue and some soulful Blues, watch out. That’s cultural appropriation, especially if you are not black. Really!!! Who the heck gets to decide what’s cultural appropriation and what is not?

My step-daughter joined her Mom and me for our Passover Seder, which marks the Exodus of the Children of Israel from Egyptian slavery when God “passed over” the houses of the Israelites during the last of the ten plagues. My wife, who is Presbyterian, can cook up traditional Jewish foods better than members of my family. After eating a steaming bowl of “Jewish penicillin,” Matzo Ball Soup, my daughter exclaimed, “I love being Jewish. The food is awesome.” We all laughed. Isn’t this what celebrating other cultures and heritages is all about? Enjoying our similarities while discussing our differences in a civil and understanding way.

Having grown up in the sixties and seventies, I have experienced the shift from reasoned discussion to radical indoctrination in places of work, worship, and learning at all levels. Some elite college professors and special interest student groups, who are in fact the biggest dividers, are the most ignorant among us. Too often this cult of the unenlightened twist, turn, and misinterpret history and ideas to fit a narrative. Acknowledging other people’s cultures and heritage creates the wonderful melting pot of experiences we, as Americans, get to celebrate. The idea of E Pluribus Unum – Latin for “Out of many, one” should be held in such high esteem that it is etched on the hearts of all Americans.

Sadly, the dividers of the left continue to group individuals into color, race, religion, sexual orientation, and class. It is long past the time to stand against this tearing down of Western Civilization and say, “enough.” If you have a problem with my celebrating your holiday or heritage, that’s on you. I am fortunate to have friends of every race, religion, and background.  We often agree to disagree, and that is alright because as friends we are free to have differing opinions without being canceled or called out for an idea that is diverse.

I attended a Catholic University and loved the experience because it was the right school for me to attend. There I learned the quote from Saint Francis of Assisi who lived in the 1200s.  “First seek to understand, then be understood”. Or better yet, understand yourself then you might be able to understand others, celebrate others, enjoy their rich diversity of customs, cuisine, and traditions. Most importantly understand their wisdom.

It is time we push back on those who will not accept that we are all created equal as humans; that no one is more human than another. We are all equal under the law and should be treated with dignity and respected as individuals, not groups. The equity crowd that believes the myth of lighter-colored skin pigmentation equates to privilege needs to have their lies exposed and extinguished.

Leftists are always looking for power and pots of gold in other people’s pockets, creating their own mythical leprechauns to taunt us and telling impressionable young minds that there are elusive dragons to slay. In the battle of ideas, it’s time to stand up and say enough of this on the good Saint’s Day. Lift a glass of your favorite beverage and give a toast to the exterminator of snakes from the land. Sláinte!

https://kimmonson.com/featured_articles/catching-leprechauns/

Radio Interview. My portion of the show begins at 32:00

https://kimmonson.com/kim_monson_show/catching-leprechauns/

The Blessing of 2020 and the Promise of 2021 and Beyond

Kintsugi (pronounced kin = meaning “golden” + tsugi = meaning “joinery or repair”), is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the broken areas with lacquer dust mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. The why behind this concept states that breakage and repair are part of the rich history of any object. It also is an act of embracing the flawed or the imperfect. Perhaps this is the perfect metaphor for 2020.

For many 2020 will be remembered as the lost year. The year we lost our job. The year we lost a family member, a friend, or a co-worker to the Wuhan virus. The year we lost our freedom. However, human beings are resilient creatures and can repair themselves as is done in the art of Kintsugi embellished with those scars which become part of our unique lives.

One of my mentors, the writer, and business expert, Jeffrey Gitomer once said, “Resilience is not what happens to you. It’s how you react to, respond to, and recover from what happens to you”. The precious elements used in rejoining the pieces of our lives making us whole again maybe those things that are certain in life.

You can achieve certainty by focusing first on yourself. Take the time to learn something new and build on your strengths. Again, as Gitomer says, “To read, to write, to prepare, in order to think and create.”  Have the faith in yourself that you can accomplish something.

Next, you can embrace the time together with family and friends. Or help and support those who are in need of your assistance. There is awesome power in giving of yourself voluntarily to assist someone. It is a gift given, not something taken. These are the adhesives of our existence, binding our imperfections and flaws into a celebration of life.

2020 illuminated how dependent we are on those who bring us together. The producer who makes the goods or grows the crops we consume. The driver who transports those goods to market and delivers them safely. The energy worker converts the natural, raw materials and turns them into useful entities to move those goods, or heat and cool our homes and businesses. The small business owners who invest in their community, employ local people and provide the framework of our economy. The innovators and improvers who take ideas and implement them into action and dare to believe that their discoveries can become the next thing we could not live without. All this fosters our human flourishing.

2020 exposed the weakness of experts who believed their knowledge was correct; however, they lacked understanding, interpreting facts without wisdom. They break things that are not broken hoping to fix them with their abundance of education, but they lack the exercise of education. They look at imperfections as a challenge to be fixed. They believe human flaws can be perfected, yet lack the understanding that man is not malleable to be heated up and bent into a mold to be replicated.

Humans have a rich history of trial and error. We try, tinker, and tack together ideas that are separate yet once combined create something new, often marvelous, and at once magical. Too often we don’t revel in our mistakes, we don’t take a risk because we fear the embarrassment of failure. We want perfection yet we don’t spend the time to perfect. The imperfect and the flawed shows a timeline of use that reminds me of the lines left by laughter and tears on a person’s face. Those lines show a life well-lived.

2020 gave our political class license to stop that living, to stop that production, to stop that sustenance of human connection because of the fear of dying. The power they derived from the meek, the unquestioning, the afraid, gave them added incentive to act against our interests. Like the seasons, the political year proved a harsh and bitter winter. The ill winds remain and the elements continue to lash and beat at us. As winter always turns into spring and then into Summer we can prepare, plan, and plant our future, broken and torn apart as we may seem. There is always hope. There is the will and human desire. There are dreams.

Find the flaws and imperfections to embrace. The promise going forward into the new year and the new decade remains. Celebrate each day as a new interval of time. Invest and improve in yourself, flaws and all. Defend freedom like a once broken piece of pottery, it is delicate. There are those who, in their rush to perfection break what took wisdom to build. There is solace in knowing that even a broken object, though not perfect, can be mended back with the golden embrace of wisdom. Our Kintsugi is the promise of that idea of America. It is alive in the hearts of her people and can be pieced back together

Happy 2021.

Radio program: https://kimmonson.com/kim_monson_show/the-blessing-of-2020-and-the-promise-of-2021-and-beyond/