It was humbling to read a document I feel that I should know like the back of my hand tonight, but know barely anything, and discuss it amongst fellow United States Citizens.

The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to our Constitution, the outline of what we are entitled to as citizens. Within this document lives the expectations of ourselves, our states, our country, and our government. And yet reading through and discussing all ten amendments tonight during our biweekly philosophy meetup group, I realized how little I knew about the words written years ago when our country was founded. How little I knew about the potential application of the words and their meaning today. All I knew were the “buzz words” on the TV circling around hot topic cases in our court system. All I knew were my feelings about our politics, grounded on words with no specific meaning, having never taken the time to properly define.

But seeing this disparity in my lack of knowledge of the language our country was founded on, it showed me the importance of stepping into that responsibility of a citizen as an active role. To be conscious of my decision making. To become more emotionally intelligent around the “hot button” items of today, grounding them in the right language of our government, and not the word on the street. The importance of ethical decision making. The importance of creating the spaces to allow for people to discuss our government.

It’s scattered thought, but slowly a picture is emerging in my mind….