Leigh's Leadership Lessons: Seek Other Seekers

On today’s episode, I explore what it means to seek out fellow seekers in a time of deep division. Seekers are people who are curious, open-minded, and committed to learning—by instinct and by choice. If you’re listening to this podcast, chances are you’re a seeker too. I share a personal story about an unexpected and meaningful connection with my March 19th podcast guest, Lemon Price. Lemon is a fellow seeker who happens to hold very different political views than I do. She is an avid Trump supporter, and is thoughtful about why. Her story, and our dialogue,  reminded me that seekers come from all walks of life—and that meaningful connection across ideological lines is not only possible, it’s essential. Enjoy the episode!

Transcript

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Hi everyone, it's Lee Morgan, host of the Space in Between podcast. In my last solo episode, I talked about the power of knowing your boiling points and how that can help all of us hold firm to our principles and our opinions, while also helping us know when we have capacity to build bridges with folks who we may not agree with or who just get under our skin in a time of hyper fragmentation. A. Blame and shame culture in our media and in politics. Boiling points matter. I'm gonna follow up on that theme today and explore another tactic that will help us stay sane, navigate polarization, and divides. And so we are gonna talk about seeking other seekers. I got inspired about this topic after chatting with a friend a few weeks ago, and my friend asked me what was it like to interview Lemon Price? Who was my podcast guest on March 19th? And For those who have not listened to that episode, lemon is an avid Trump supporter, and we had a really interesting discussion about her views. What was her evolution from voting for Obama twice and then turning to Trump in the last two, presidential elections. And I told my friend that it wasn't hard at all to do that episode and that the conversations actually invigorated me because I learned a lot. And I actually got a personal story to things that I'd been reading about in the exit polls about why. 77 million people voted for Trump, and one of the big themes was that people wanted change and that superseded concerns about his tone and even a lot of his policies. So understanding that and hearing a personal story I thought was really helpful. I learned a lot. I had also developed a personal connection. Indeed, I would say, a friendship with Lemon. Prior to the episode, she was my podcast coach. I would not be here if it weren't for her. And she also doesn't fit neatly into any stereotype of a MAGA supporter. So I got to know her as this full human being, and I learned that like me, she is a seeker. She's introspective, she's smart. She can be sparky in her views, and she can share generously about her family and why politics matters to her. What stands out to me about the episode and my connection with Lemon is that despite our different life experiences, we have different faith traditions. I live in a dark blue dot. She does not in southeast Georgia, and we listened to different media channels and I think we probably have some different values. She and I were able to create a safe environment to ask each other questions, and we both genuinely wanted. To have a good conversation and model on the podcast that we could listen and see each other as being fully human, even if we might disagree in some areas. And there's a quote that I have found from Joseph Campbell, and actually I came across this when I was an undergrad studying religion, but I found it again a couple weeks ago. Joseph Campbell was a really influential theorist, a theologian really, who wrote a lot about the power of myth. Mythology and how there's very common mythologies that cut across many cultures. So here's his quote that I think relates to the theme of seek other seekers when the world seems to be falling apart. Stick to your own trajectory. Hang onto your own ideals and find kindred spirits. This is the rule of life. This quote embodies so much of what we're trying to do with the podcast, and it also captures two helpful tactics to help us navigate this tumultuous time. And both tactics require seeking other seekers. So the first tactic is stick to your own trajectory. Hang onto your values or your ideals. To do that find folks that respect you and your views, who embrace you for who you are and really get you, and you know that feeling when you're around people or in groups or you just have a shared connection. Finding community around shared ideals has changed the world, and it can provide meaningful respite from the negative impacts of this crazy hyperpolarized world that we live in. The second tactic is about finding what he calls kindred spirits. And when bridging divides, it works best to seek other seekers from the other side. And it's also related to knowing your boiling points because when you're trying to learn or find common ground with folks who have different views. It's really important to do so when you're not at, your boiling point, right? When you can find a way to hold space, be open-hearted and open-minded. And what we wanna do is seek others who have that capacity as well. And as I learned with Lemon as a different as we are, we are definitely kindred spirits. We're both seekers. we cultivated enough trust that we could hold space with each other respectfully on the podcast. And we do that outside of the podcast as well. So kindred spirits don't always have to share our ideals, but they do share an interest in listening and sharing stories. And my friends, this is the richness of life, to find connection with people who share our views and also find folks who do not that we can connect with. The world needs more of this than ever. We get to have both kindred spirits who share our values and our experiences, and those that we can connect with that have very different experiences and views. It doesn't happen all the time. It shouldn't happen all the time. I'm not advocating for accepting policies that you don't agree with or that I don't agree with. We really need to say no and fight against discrimination, violence, mean-spirited retribution, and policies that undermine our democracy. That's fine and good. What I wanna emphasize is that we can do that and also bridge divides in sometimes unexpected and very delightful and engaging ways. This is the great work of our lifetime, my friends. Thank you for joining today, and I look forward to our next episode. I hope you. Enjoyed this episode of the space in between podcast. If. If you did, please hit the like button and leave a review. Wherever you listen to the show. And check out the space. Space in between.com website, where you can also leave me a message.