We live in a time when it can feel like everything is broken.

Scroll social media for a few minutes and you might think the country is hopelessly divided.

Turn on the news and it can seem like anger is everywhere.

It's depressing. 
It's worrying.  
It just seems so far away from how things used to feel.

But I read a piece this week that made a simple point that really made me think.  
Most Americans are simply living their lives.

Working.
Raising kids.
Helping neighbors.
Coaching Little League.
Going to church or synagogue.
Dropping off meals when someone is sick.
Volunteering in their towns.

They just don’t post about it.

And the data backs it up.

Out on my morning walk yesterday, I started thinking about Mark Twain.

And, I know you’re thinking … that’s odd.

Well, I can kind of explain it.

Just the other day, a friend sent me a video of Conan O’Brien receiving the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. 

(if you're interested in hearing a clip of Conan's acceptance speech expressing his reverence for Twain, here is one.  

Yesterday, I saw the news that the Pulitzer Prize was awarded to James by Percival Everett — a novel I read a few months ago. 

It’s a fictional retelling of Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, but this time through the eyes of Jim — or “James,” as he’s called in the book - a Black man who was enslaved.

If you’re not familiar with Huckleberry Finn, it’s set in the pre-Civil War South and centers around Huck, a young white boy, and Jim, a man escaping slavery. 

Reading James through Jim’s perspective offers a profound shift in understanding - one that expands empathy and reminds us of how easily we miss the full truth when we only view a story through our own lens.