New Year’s resolutions are meant to be guides to improving our lives. Being locked up because of cold and COVID-19, these guidelines may be hard to follow. Love your neighbors (but not too much, i.e. masks, 6 feet, etc.). Now this spring, opportunity knocks. Vaccinations and warmer weather allow time to express our ambitions. Renewal: earth, birds, flowers and trees and people — all are eager to begin another growing season. And where will civility play a role?
What is civility? “It is not just an attitude of being benevolent and thoughtful relating to other individuals: it also entails an active interest in the well-being of our communities and even a concern for the health of the planet on which we live,” according to P.M. Forni, in his book “Choosing Civility.”