Publisher's Letter
Jul 01, 2024 06:00AM ● By Jeaniesa Santiano
Change is inevitable. It is a consistent marching clock that we cannot control. Whether we plan for it or not, change happens. Unfortunately, we have no way of seeing into the future. Sometimes action can carve a groove that can influence a preferred direction, but in the long run, controlling change is an illusion.
I love the statement, “We plan, God laughs.” My observation is that as we try to control and change circumstances, we often find that we cannot. We also find that we do not have the social skills needed, and we run into the wall of needing each other.
Over my 80 years of living, I have seen changes. I remember pizza at 25 cents a slice; party lines for phones, where switchboard operators controlled telephone calls, and neighbors had to wait for a neighbor to finish a call before you could start yours. Telegrams and snail mail as the only forms of communication. We smoked on airplanes and in hospitals, had TV with rabbit ear antennas, well, I’m sure you get the point.
Who could have imagined cell phones, e-mails, and a billion other forms of change? Who could have foreseen the true reality of the internet and how it has impacted the societies of the world? Communication has expanded to texting, reels, data gathering, and Facebook. Knocking on our change door is AI, robotics and more is just around the corner. Verbal communications on the other hand is at a standstill. What I just went through with my 20-something young adults is regressing.
If I had my way, I would beg that our schools taught interpersonal communication from kindergarten to doctorate levels. I would establish an ongoing mandatory course that teaches the realities of decisions and their consequences, how to define and establish healthy boundaries, how to listen to understand, how to feel empathy, and understanding our personal responsibilities—to ourselves, to the ones we love, and to everyone else in the world.
Rote memorization, while important for education, is not as important for a society as learning how to get along, see the good, and extend personal respect. Instruction in critical thinking, how to identify root causes, and how to be part of the solution of living together as one society of the world. Building the support our families and extended families need helps lower the divorce rate. These are changes we can influence.
If there is anything more worthy than what this change would bring about, I cannot think of it.
Accepting change, especially what we have no control over, makes life easier. Learning how to make it work in our favor seems to be the solution.
Happy 4th of July—spread the vision of hope.
Joe Dunne, Publisher
