Perhaps I am not the only one today having thoughts about restarting conversations. Maybe others have also derived some understanding about how our once-meaningful relationships were shattered - with a lot of help from strangers. Good or bad, I am not always willing to risk being wrong by saying never. Unfortunately, trying to have a conversation is not possible with someone that is lost to imaginings that are pretty unfathomable.

As peace has become a pursuit of the guardians of the sane mind, I hope this message gets to all who are ready to have honest and civil conversation with each other. In Texas, this is where we start to reset and restore our relationships with our family and friends. We need them to buy-in to our efforts to unite for the good of all of us. The only winners in the brokenness of those around us has been the profiteers, those for whom relationships are transactional and expendable. Much of our institutions can be rigged but we can no longer let our relationships be the weakest link in the strength of our nation.

Honest. We are in the midst of a partisan battle with both sides thinking that the one with the largest war chest will come out victorious at the end. Each side is convinced of this eventuality based on the ire of the faithful, opinion polls, and an awakened electorate. However, only the ire of the faithful is most reliable. The interpretations of opinion polls have been monumentally wrong. The awakened electorate has endured much unrest and disillusionment.

Civil. A long time ago, someone said, "Great minds think alike." When we hear someone express exactly what we were thinking, it shows we’re experiencing the world in a similar way. Consider that we may have more in common with people we assume are totally different from us—people who don’t look like us, love like us, or come from a different generation. Maybe more than we think. Because even without being taught, there’s often a basic instinct in all of us—a sense of what’s right and wrong, or what matters. Civil conversations are not productions, they are instinctively guided. A conversation at the kitchen table endures more than a speech to hundreds.

Perhaps you have read enough of my post and just want to go back to waiting for someone else to do something. Indeed, someone is doing something. But even if you've never been a sailor, the state of our State calls for an "all hands on deck" response. Let's talk again.