This video is a part of the Healing the Heart of Democracy Discussion Guide and can be found with more videos and resources in our “Healing the Heart of Democracy Hub.” You can explore the hub, download the guide, and find all of the videos along with additional resources here.
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When we give the media exclusive rights to define our political world, we are almost certain to end up with a distorted sense of reality and deformed habits of the heart. (153)
If we fail to turn inward for some of our news, we cannot embrace the questions that Terry Tempest Williams names as those on which democracy depends—questions about our inner capacity for mutual respect, generosity, listening openly to others, courage, trust, and resolve. (155)
We need safe spaces, silent and solitary spaces, where we can get the news from within. But when it comes to forming the habits of the heart that make a democracy work, solitude has its limits. We also need safe spaces for small gatherings of the “company of strangers,” spaces where citizens can come together to explore the challenge of living heartfelt lives in the neighborhood, in the workplace, and in the larger world. (158)
Q. Do you have safe spaces where you can “get the news from within”? What kind of “news” do you receive from within? How does that news help you to be the kind of citizen a democracy needs? Do you know of spaces safe enough for strangers to gather and share their fears and hopes about the challenges of our common life?
