Reflecting on the shoot

I don’t agree with the visual ideas or tones represented here. If I share these and someone agrees, does that mean I promoted my opposition, my own downfall in a policy area? Perhaps…but what I think is more important than that is that I stuck around to see where people were coming from. To do that, you have to try to see them. That’s personal and requires proximity, figuratively and literally (for the photos we saw above). Everyone wants to be seen but no one wants to exert the patience it takes to do the work of seeing and listening.

Was I annoyed almost the entire time I was there? Sure. But I was also curious.

We care about the same problems, but we’ve landed on such different solutions. How did that happen and is there anything we can agree on? Are we doomed to be locked in a stalemate?

I hope that these photos stir your curiosity and ultimately makes you want to talk to someone of a differing political stripe than yourself. Notice how I didn’t say fight with. I mean talking over issues.

I didn’t talk to anyone that day, but since shooting this rally I have reached out to more conservatives across platforms. Some conservatives and libetarians have chats about the themes here and now the recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump. Sometimes the DM chats are a few messages and kind. Other times conversations in comments section can get heated. And, once I was doxxed with no other note. I’ve found common ground with conservatives about term limits, getting money out of politics, billionaires being a questionable part of our society, child labor being a questionable part of our society, and government spending being out of line with caring for people (who exactly needs to be cared for is where we begin to disagree). So, results may vary.

If you take me up on my challenge, both parties have to agree going in that the point is to respectfully see where the conversation goes and to find common ground. Heavy on the “both parties have to agree going in”.

If you get this far, I want each party to listen to the other person’s answers with compassion. Try to see where they are coming from. Empathize. What can you agree on? If you differ on the solution, start with defining problem as the different parties see it. Be intellectually honest that there is some good in plans you don’t like entirely and some bad in plans that you love. Even if it’s a thin silver lining. What actionable details are there in the overlapping area of a venn diagram of both of your priorities? Start with those to build rapport. If there is no overlap, we have entered different territory altogether and you can walk away from the conversation having worked some mental muscles that aren’t popular in our partisan steeped politics.

For those of you who don’t believe that there is productive overlap to be found by talking to people of a different political stripe, guess who will talk to them?

The people in these photos sure do look eager to talk to anyone who will listen :p

Perhaps I will try to explore more of the answers to the questions and hypotheses I’m pitching here in my writing on Medium. But for now, it is enough to contemplate it here.

If you’ve made it this far and are still reading, thank you very much for your time and being open to my work.