I have learned two very important lessons over the past year witnessing all of this political yammering.First, for the most part, we, Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and Socialists, are not all that far apart in our fundamental beliefs. Secondly, because we only have two political parties in power to choose from, there is little chance things will change. For real change to happen, people need to start shutting up and listening to the other person and his or her point of view.Basketball or Political Trash Ads?Of course, I’ve come to the conclusion that the two parties, for the most part, don’t want us to listen to each other. If we did, we just might learn something and better understand what the other side is thinking and why. I recently read that $1 billion is estimated to be spent on advertising for the 2016 campaign. $1 billion!!  I could buy an NBA franchise for that much money—well not the Lakers. That’s a lot of $1 and $5 online donations!Political Word Association GameWhen two ‘politically aware’ (and I use this term loosely) voters square off in an impromptu debate, the outcome is scary predictable. It’s like watching a couple pre-programmed robots participating in a word association test. You know, the test where one person says a word and the other responds with the first thing that comes to mind. Both parties blurt out one-sentence responses as if political programmers had hardwired a fistful words into their brains.  Neither one really listens to what the other is saying. No one asks a probing question or even asks questions to better understand their opponent’s position. Here’s the latest  “political word association” game from one of the 24/7 news networks with their pre-programmed robots:Second AmendmentThey want to take all our guns.They want everyone to have guns so more innocent people will get killed.AbortionThey all think it’s ok to kill babiesThey want to tell women what they can and can’t do with their bodiesGlobal WarmingThey don’t believe in scienceThey don’t care about families working in the fossil industryReally, this is the extent of our knowledge on these subjects?Political Beliefs Run Deep, or Do They?I grew up in Wyoming and at a tender age of twenty-two I was introduced to politics with a handshake and a flyer. I ran my older brother’s election campaign for the State House of Representatives and everything I knew about politics came from him.  My brother wasn’t much older than me and we got our butts kicked. But the experience was long-lasting and really taught me about political campaigns and the power of messaging. Shortly thereafter, I moved around spending time in Arizona, Missouri, and Chicago,  and finally settling down in southern California. Along the way, I was introduced to a variety of opinions and points of views from conservative, liberal and some real doozies from the paranoid, Whack-a-doodle Insane Asylum.Temperament and culture is as diverse as the land I’ve traveled. Being raised in the open ranges of Wyoming and Montana, I saw a lot of guns.  But mostly during hunting season on a rack in the back of a pickup cab or locked in a gun case. Seemed pretty logical to me and seemingly, people were on the endangered species list since not a whole lot were getting shot. But as I moved around the country, I began to see guns in public. In one state, a gun hung on the hip of a casual shopper in a grocery store, and it wasn’t even hunting season. Perhaps he felt the need to open carry to protect himself or more likely he was showing what a hard-ass he was. In another state, I was playing basketball in a park not far from the beach. A typical argument erupted over a foul and one player stormed off good riddance he was a jerk. But ten minutes later he came back pointing a gun in the face of the guy he was arguing with over a FOUL. A gun was pulled because of a foul in a GAME. Another hard-ass want-a-be.Respect for Respectful Gun OwnersI have another brother who is a world-class hunter with guns, bow and arrow or a heavy tree branch, if he were forced to use it. If I were in a bar fight, who do you think I would want in my corner? But he and I were forced to engage in deep, heartfelt conversations about a family member who we believe should no longer possess a gun for fear of hurting himself or others. The police and sheriff are legally unable to help us under current laws and if we were to remove or “steal” his weapons, we would be committing a federal crime. Does that make sense? Arrested for trying to do the right thing?My brother and I were forced to talk about the issues so we could make logical, rational decisions. Those conversations were the inspiration for my writing of Ilena, one of the main characters in my novel Those Crazy Notions of Otherwise intelligent People. Ilena is forced to talk about her past and the part gun violence played in forming it. She lacked an ability to move on from the trauma and assumed the worst in everyone.Find Three Things You Have in CommonI recently watched Michael Moore’sTrumpland.  It wasn’t what I expected, but it gave me a different perspective. Not so much about my political beliefs, but more about how we treat our fellow citizens in America because of political influences. It inspired my journey to start mending relationships that have been damaged as a result of drastically opposing views in this political race. My hope is that we take a moment to reflect on what we have in common with other people. Moore, during his monologue, tried to find things that the Trump supporters in the audience and he could agree on. He also spent a few minutes trying to say three things he liked about George W. Bush. He also asked Trump supporters to come up with three nice things to say about Hilary Clinton. Rather than focus on how we are different, perhaps we can focus on where we share common ground?Finding Common GroundI urge everyone to take a look at what we can do to be of service to others.I’m trying to do a minimum of three nice things for others every day. It may be as simple as making coffee for my wife or letting that reckless driver cut into my lane, but it is something. Image if everyone also did three nice things. Perhaps that’s what we should be crowdfunding!Everywhere I’ve traveled in my life I’ve seen one constant: There are people in need of help and there are people willing to lend a hand.