Mulling Over Medford conversation group with Dale Bryan

This is an invitation to meet and talk about our city with an eye toward a preferred future we may well share. On the first Thursday of each month if you are at all inclined and curious about “Mulling Over Medford,” please join the conversation at Bestsellers Café (MOM@Bestsellers), 24 High St, 6-8pm. Purchase a drink, dinner and/or a dessert and we’ll get talking at 6:30pm.
So, who am I and what in the world am I thinking? Let me first put it this way: I have so many questions about how to live in the present out of concerns for an unsettling future, that I simply want to talk with others who at least share that much. Already I do so with friends and family, but I’m certain there is more to hear, consider and learn from other Medfordites.
I work at Tufts as an administrator and lecturer (in peace studies), I’m on the Human Rights & Disability Commissions, a co-parent of two teenagers (and old enough to be their grandfather), and I’ve been active in the public schools/PTOs over the years (particularly the Cooperative Peace Games project). Some of you might simply recognize my name as a participant on the Medfordmass Yahoo group.
My ‘agenda’ can be stated fairly simply: I’d like to meet face-to-face and be part of community discussions where the topics are matters of concern to residents of Medford. I am also interested in ‘transition initiatives’ that address community resiliency in the face of climate disruptions, energy uncertainties, and economic downturns. I’d be pleased to meet others who may also be interested, or find the idea and activities interesting enough, to meet specifically about that possibility. But my primary motivation is to hear and discuss with others what their concerns and ‘agenda’ are for our fair city.
I could have put this first: I am a bit anxious about this ‘throw caution to the wind’ approach. I don’t have certain answers; I try to live the questions. And I surely do not know if this will work. I may be the only person to show up but if one or more of you join me, some conversation will at least begin. Who knows for how long, about which matters are of concern, and among how many of us?
I am also anxious about admitting to an approach that is rather loose, meaning I am not over-planning this arrangement so that it goes in only a direction of my choosing. I am a teacher and group facilitator and I really could! But I’ll rely on a ‘gift of gab,’ sincere interest in what concerns and values others feel are worth talking about, and a bit of faith the risk is small that people can indeed have constructive conversations together in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere, (and thanks to Rob for his willingness to host us).
In anticipation you might just show up, a first useful step could be for each of us to bring one copy of a story – newspaper/magazine/zine/blog/web – that addresses a particular concern, one that makes you wonder how it affects Medford and your/family life. Mine is certainly going to be about climate change impacts. Taken together we could effectively start off with a sort of social and emotional inventory and see if we get any traction to continue talking. I’ll also compile and copy them as a PDF and send afterward to anyone that wants them.
Call me crazy. Call me courageous. Call me a concerned Medford citizen who wants to talk and listen (and do something, too – and this is not the least of it). But don’t call me: just show up and join me at 6pm, for MOM@Bestsellers Café. C’mon, whether you are from ‘old Medford’ or ‘new Medford,’ let’s mull over matters that affect us all and surely the ‘next Medford’!
Sincerely, Dale Bryan