As I reflect back on 2020, I think of the many people I’ve had the privilege of meeting and learning about, even if we could not meet in person.
On December 16th, I joined Doug Bradley, Vietnam veteran and author of Who’ll Stop the Rain: Respect, Remembrance, and Reconciliation in Post-Vietnam America.for a conversation, for a conversation in partnership with the wonderful independent bookstore A Room of One’s Own.
Doug and I discussed a wide range of topics, including my personal journey of forgiveness and healing as described in my book Nothing Bad Between Us, as well as Doug’s experiences reconciling his memories of Vietnam with his post-war experiences. Our conversation touched on the process of collective healing during this contentious time for most Americans, ways to generate healing within each of us individually, and the need to stimulate collective goodwill and peace where there is fear and divisiveness.
If you missed this live event, you can see it by clicking here.
As they discussed, healing is deeply necessary at both the individual and the collective level. Replacing fear and divisiveness with peace and goodwill may require a shift from our focus on maximizing outcomes for the individual to one of caring for the well-being all others.