BY JOELLEN COLLINS
I am thankful that I am not in a position to be a political columnist, as I am not required to spend any more time than I would as a dedicated citizen in dealing with the massive negativity currently evident in our country beset by divisiveness. However, I have an idea to let some of my readers express their thoughts in a less confrontational way.
Occasionally my schoolmates would create lists of new vocabulary words in ABC order, a good way to remember spellings and definitions and also to create tiny stories of angst or imagined drama. I recall a non-academic game where we could create opinions by finding a word for each letter. The following effort is typical of the ones we enjoyed: it uses regular, not new words, from a teenage girl summing up her thoughts of dating boys: A. Any… B. boy… C. can… D. do… E. everything… F. frisky… G. Girls… H. have… I. intimacy… J. just… K. kissing… L. longing (for)… M. more… N. No… O. one… P. person … Q. quite… R. reaches… S. satisfactory… T. teenagehood… U. Unless… V. very… W. wildly… X. “Xpertly”, … Y. vitally… Z. zesty!
This sample reflects the challenges in such an activity (like coming up with an X word—be daring), but I will ask you, my readers, to try the same exercise, the ABC game, by composing a list of words (not necessarily in sentences) reflecting views—positive, negative or in-between—about our current government. This may or may not reflect your own personal, party, or political leanings, but, I imagine, might stimulate some thoughtful consideration of the existing rhetoric. I can envision a group gathering for this, perhaps getting some dialogue started over the tense exchanges some might have experienced. If not, then at least one can spend a few moments thinking about these words in a productive sense.
Here are three examples of what might be an initial ABC list: 1: A. antagonistic, B. bellicose, C. cranky, 2: A. abject, B. beaten, C. concerned, or 3: A. active, B. believing, C. committed.
Even as I chose these examples, I was required to think why I selected each and why I felt there was a category for it. I don’t think I wasted time.
Now, here’s what I propose. I am giving you my email. I have a new one, and this one will be removed by April 1, so that I can clean out some contacts, cobwebs, and scams, and be able to accept new communicators. If this proves to be a good way to connect with my readers, I would be happy to open this door, at least for this activity. My curiosity may strain my serenity, but I would love to see the words you choose (hopefully minus any hate mail).
As you may know, I am not living in Ketchum anymore, but love my Idaho and miss being able to keep my connections with you. This may be a good start. Thanks for considering this.
