Herzensbildung.

Today I learned this German word translates to "training one's heart to see the full humanity in another."

While Stories Change Power's training emphasizes the importance of using positive language, in this case, tt's important to understand the *negative* ways of thinking that David Brooks found can block the education of our hearts:

EGOTISM: If we're too self-centered to step outside of our own point of view, we can't learn about others.

ANXIETY: If we're too in our own heads, we won't see the full humanity of others. (And as I write this, I wonder if anxiety is maybe a play cousin of egotism? I may be asking for angry feedback with that suggestion...)

NAÏVE REALISM: If we assume the way we see the world must be an objective view, we'll never understand how others experience the world.

THE LESSER-MINDS PROBLEM: By definition, we have access to all of our own thoughts but only a fraction of other people's thoughts. If based on our limited information, we assume we're more complicated, interesting, and worthy than other people, well... we're mistaken.

OBJECTIVISM: Surveys and data are important. We talk about that in detail in many of our trainings. But we also remember that the individuals within that data are far more complicated than any generalization.

ESSENTIALISM: Believing that if someone is X they must be Y, or if someone voted for A they must think Z is stereotyping - and squashes your curiosity.

THE STATIC MINDSET: In short, this mindset fails to account for the fact people can change over the course of their lives. (Personally, I hope everyone who knew me in 2nd grade knows I've changed since then.)

Why are we focused on this now? What does it have to do with civic engagement and strengthening our democracy?

Everything.

Individually, seeing the dignity in other people improves the quality of our own lives. In David's words, "A person who is looking for beauty is likely to find wonders, while a person looking for threats will find danger."

Collectively, failure to see each other dooms our country. Again, to quote David:

To survive, pluralistic societies require citizens who can look across difference and show the kind of understanding that is a prerequisite of trust -- who can say, at the very least, "I'm beginning to see you. Certainly, I will never fully experience the world as you experience it, but I'm beginning, a bit, to see the world through your eyes."

Our ability to understand -- to really see -- each other is foundational to being able to live alongside each other and support the laws, policies, and systems that support our shared future - no exceptions.

Which is why, even if I can't pronounce the word, I'm embracing the concept of herzensbildung.

- Piper Hendricks, CEO