America’s Potluck

Humans have been migrating since the dawn of time.

Let that sink in for a second. This isn’t a new thing. This isn’t a political invention. People have been picking up and moving since the very beginning. And yet somehow, in 2026, it’s a hot button issue.

I’m not here to get political. I’m here to tell you about a Rotary Club speaker who shifted my perspective in about 45 minutes.

I recently attended a speaking event at my local Rotary Club. The speaker was the executive director of a nonprofit called Green Card Voices……an organization based in Minneapolis that uses storytelling to connect immigrants with their communities. They’ve recorded over 500 first-person narratives from immigrants representing more than 140 countries. No agenda. No spin. Just stories. LOVE IT!

And she said something that I just love!

She said that it’s almost impossible to hate someone once you’ve heard their story.

Read that again. DO IT!

It’s almost impossible to hate someone once you’ve heard their story.

That hits different. Because it’s true, right? When you actually sit across from a human being and hear where they came from, what they went through, why they’re here…..the walls come down. The labels dissolve. What’s left is just…..a person. With a story that probably has more in common with yours than you’d expect.

She uses stories to connect people. That’s her whole deal. And it’s pretty damn powerful.

Then she said something else that was juicy!

She challenged the whole “melting pot” idea.

You know the one. America is a melting pot. We’ve all heard it a thousand times. It sounds nice. Inclusive, even. But think about what a melting pot actually does…..it takes everything, throws it in, cranks up the heat, and out comes this one homogeneous thing. Everybody melts into the same stuff. Your culture, your identity, your flavor…..gone.

She offered a different metaphor.

A potluck.

And I was like, oh man, I love that so much more.

Because a potluck means everybody brings something to the table. You bring your dish, I bring mine, and we all get to experience something different. But here’s the key…..your dish stays your dish. Your culture and your identity stay intact. You don’t lose yourself by showing up.

That’s America at its best. Not a melting pot where everybody becomes the same, but a potluck where everybody contributes something unique and gets to keep being who they are.

Let’s be honest…..America has been one big cultural experiment for the last couple hundred years. And yeah, it has its flaws. A lot of them. We overwork ourselves. We burn out. We’ve got plenty of problems to go around.

But the experiment is still pretty remarkable. And the potluck version of it? That’s the one worth leaning into.

She also dropped one more concept that I’d never heard before, and it’s great!

Everybody talks about getting out of your comfort zone. It’s one of those clichés that has been beaten to death. I literally say all the time, “Amazing things rarely happen in your comfort zone”. Get comfortable being uncomfortable! Push past your limits! You’ve seen the Instagram posts….classic right?!

But she introduced something different. She said that right outside your comfort zone, there’s a space called the Learning Zone.

Not the panic zone. Not the “I’m about to have an anxiety attack” zone. The Learning Zone.

And here’s what’s cool about it…..yeah, it’s uncomfortable. But it’s not crazy uncomfortable. It’s that sweet spot where your brain starts firing on all cylinders. The synapses are going nuts because you’re encountering something new. Something you’ve never experienced. Something your brain doesn’t have a file for yet.

It’s like when you go to a cultural event that’s completely outside your bubble. You feel a little awkward. A little out of place. But then you leave and you think, wow, I just learned something real. You absorbed something. You grew a little.

Humans love learning. We’re wired for it. And what gets us there is curiosity. Not fear. Not force. Just good old-fashioned curiosity pulling us out of our bubble and into the Learning Zone.

I think that’s crucial. Especially right now.

We’re actually heading to Japan in a couple weeks with our boys. They’ve been out of the country a bit, but not a ton. This trip is going to be a full-on Learning Zone experience for them. New language, new food, new everything. And I can’t wait to watch their brains light up.

So here’s my challenge to you…..go find your own cultural potluck. Show up somewhere unfamiliar. Listen to someone’s story that doesn’t sound like yours. Let curiosity be the thing that pulls you forward.

Get into your Learning Zone.

Your brain will thank you for it.

JT