If you follow the Facebook page, you will have seen that I was recently honored to join the Kami City, Japan Delegation at the celebration of the 50 year anniversary of the sister city relationship. What an honor it was!
For a little background, “In 1969, the Lions established their first twin club with the Lions Club in Tosayamada, which merged with the town of Kahoku and the village of Monobe in 2006 to form the city of Kami. The city and high school followed the club’s lead and also established relationships with the Japanese town that is home to about 26,000 people (Largo Leader).”
“I can hardly imagine how they could start this project without mobile phones, internet and email,” said Kenji Hirata, consulate general of Japan for Florida, during the event at the Central Park Performing Arts Center that included exchanges of gifts and a re-signing of the covenant between the two cities. “And the trans-Pacific flights were not as common as they are now today. At a time when distance was overwhelming, people certainly encountered difficulties we cannot imagine in today’s globalized world. Despite these challenges, the sister city relationship grew over time because of the hard work of citizens (Largo Leader).”
I met so many great people and even though many of us did not speak the same language, we were able to communicate. From our friendly smiles and our body language to utilizing Google translate. And therein lies the key, communication.
Naturally, we are social beings. I believe I have stated these before but let’s refresh! Homo Sapiens are the only Hominidae remaining today simply for the fact that we could exist in large groups and work together. Also, our social life has the single, largest impact on our longevity. Not simply our social life, but our perception of it. An introvert may only interact with others once a week but if they perceive a healthy social life then it will positively impact their longevity.
We’re getting more into communication, I promise.
Allow me to preface this by saying that this is by no stretch a political forum but we’re going to dabble into it a little. Imagine a world in which we all communicated, even when we disagree with one another. Currently, I see and sense a great divide among us. Friends are losing friends simply for having differing opinions. How is that even possible? It’s perfectly alright to have differing opinions, it’s part of what makes you, you. It’s the breakdown of communication that we allow due to the differing opinions that is creating the divide amongst relationships.
Now imagine a world in which we all stood united. I am not saying that we all must agree on everything, just that we agree to keep civil communication open and to have a guiding principal: We all stand united towards the betterment of ourselves, of each other, our society and humanity. That doesn’t mean that we have to agree on everything, quite the opposite. We keep in mind the impact of our decisions; does it better anything? Anyone? Regardless of other people’s opinions, we keep a civil communication line open with everyone.
I mentioned that this isn’t a political forum and here is where we’ll touch on politics. If we held that guiding principal while keeping our communication channels open, it would wipe out the divide among us. It doesn’t matter if my friend is “far right” or “far left” thinking if we don’t allow our communication to break down. We could stand united, together, as we the people. It wouldn’t matter who was in the oval office at this point because if we are united, then the elected officials must truly represent the people.
Can we get there? Absolutely. I believe we can. It won’t be easy, and it won’t be instant, like so much is these days. Here’s the kicker, it will take work. We can do this. We must do this. It’s worth it.
Also, I know I ask you to use your imagination, a lot. You may face a bit of hesitation when doing this. Often, when we feel that hesitation, that reluctance, that’s letting us know that we’re breaking down the borders of our comfort zone. There is greatness outside of our comfort zones. Join me on the journey.
Keep Smiling,
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