Gracious reader,
At recent events in Carmel and Fishers, Indiana—suburbs of Indianapolis, where I live—the local leaders of the event asked an important question.
“What’s one thing that people can do tomorrow, this week, to make the world a more civil place?” they asked at the end of the evening.
I love this question, and I thought I’d share a few of the ways that we discussed at those talks how we all can begin to make the world a more civil place from right where we are.
Know your neighbors. This is a small but powerful way to create a sense of belonging and community. Whether you live in the suburbs or the city, this is important. It’s practically useful to have the people around you be watching out for you. But it’s also good for its own sake to go out of your way to make the people you are surrounded by feel seen, known and loved.
Give the gift of presence. “Wherever you are, be all there!” This line from Jim Elliot, a Christian missionary who was killed by the indigenous populations in Ecuador to whom he was proselytizing, is always convincing for me. We live in an age of distraction, diversion, a desperate sense of urgency to move from point A to point B. But this utilitarianism, this busyness, is the enemy of friendship, community, and flourishing. Take a break. Calling yourself to be fully present when you ask your neighbor, spouse or child how they are. Truly listen to their response. This small daily habit has the power to dramatically change our lives, and also light up the lives of others.
Be “artisans of the common good,” as Pope Francis once elegantly called it. Elevate life’s everyday junctures. Look people in the eye, smile, wave. The small things matter.
Comment below if you get a chance to exercise these small but powerful superpowers of civility today. They will heal our divided and lonely moment, and elevate our broken world.
Notes from the Book Tour
NYC. Enjoyed visits with friends old and new in New York City this weekend, including my friend Sherry Turkle of MIT—author of Alone Together and Reclaiming Conversation—who is writing a fascinating new book on how technology and AI are changing how we interact with one another.
My husband and I enjoyed staying Tuned with Preet in NYC— it was fun to meet him in person after being a guest on his podcast a few weeks ago.
We also enjoyed an evening with our dear friends, JG and Stephanie de Tocqueville, who were in NYC sharing with a curated group about the work of The Tocqueville Foundation. Learn more about their work, and support their work here.
This week
Washington D.C.
This morning: Adam J. White of the American Enterprise Institute, AEI, hosted a discussion of how civility can help transcend our important differences and flourish amid them.
This evening: The Braver Angels DC Alliance Solutions Exchange has coordinated a panel discussion in line with their sole focus on reducing political polarization at scale. Fellow civility expert Andrea Weckerle helps us answer, What is civility, and how can it help us solve polarization? Andrea authored Civility in the Digital Age: How Companies and People Can Triumph over Haters, Trolls, Bullies, and Other Jerks - we are sure to be instant friends! Tickets available here.
Phoenix, AZ
Great Hearts Academies is inviting civility to center stage at this year’s National Symposium for Classical Education, hosting me as speaker to scholars, school leaders, teachers, and parents interested in enriching and deepening each other’s understanding of modern civility.
In the News
Civility has touched small-town Tillamook, OR with a nod to my influence here.
Flashback: Read the review of The Soul of Civility in the WSJ, which called the book “interesting.. illuminating…”
Enjoy my conversation with The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.
Upcoming…
April
Louisville, KY. I’ll be speaking at the University of Louisville McConnell Center. Learn more here.
Boston, MA. Join a conversation about civility that the New England Legal Foundation is hosting April 4th.
London. Events with the Academy of Ideas, Oxford, the House of Lords and others are in the works!
Paris, hosted by The Tocqueville Foundation.
Brussels, private book conversation.
Switzerland, University of Lausanne Student’s Law Association.
May
San Francisco, CA, private book conversation.
Stanford, CA, Francis Fukuyama is hosting me at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law and will interview me about the book.
Los Angeles, CA, private book conversation.
If you’re interested in attending these events, write me a note at ah@alexandraohudson.com
Thanks of being part of the Civic Renaissance Community!
I recently began friendships with neighbors whom I'd only occasional waved at for years...and years. Recurring disturbance on our street caused us to cooperate (in calling cops) then to call a few meetings among ourselves.
The disturbance has largely since subsided. But one neighbor, retired from the landscaping business, just yesterday tractored over a free load of topsoil for my yard—about two weeks after I told him I was in the market. Last week another neighbor who's an auto mechanic beckoned me over while he mowed his yard to refer me to his friend for auto body work I'd told him I needed.
It finally came home to me how impoverished I'd made my own life by being unduly solitary and stand-offish toward people who live only a stone's throw away. Been seeing these guys and their wives for years; all of a sudden we're neighbors—just because we started acting like it. I'm eager to somehow be a blessing in their lives now.