When my son was little, he had this shirt. One day I told him to put on his bicycle shirt. He said. “You mean my pizza shirt?” I said, “No, I mean your bicycle shirt.” Afterall he did not have a pizza shirt. He said, “That’s my pizza shirt!” You can imagine that this conversation went on for a little while. I could not understand why he was saying that. The shirt was obviously a bicycle shirt. But as my son brought me the shirt and I looked closer, I realized that the wheels were made out of pizza. I had no idea!
How often do we stubbornly hold on to our own perspective and miss out on the knowledge and insight that others can provide us?
As a school board member, I promise to have an open mind, whether it is during a school board meeting or while having important conversations with members of the community. I promise to listen with curiosity and compassion to those who think differently than I do. I promise to be open to changing my mind.
