My favorite singer-songwriter, Jason Isbell asks the question, “Am I…the last of my kind?” His style of alt-country, Americana, or whatever it is, keeps him off mainstream radio. Yet, one of his biggest hits, Cover Me Up, was recorded by Morgan Wallen and became a huge hit on country radio selling over four million copies.

Isbell sounds like he is from an older time, a simpler time, and his concern is not to be a mainstream “new” country pop star, rather he wants to sing his cathartic songs from the heart and pour his soul out in every line. Is he the last of his kind?

My wife, Alonda Bailey, is an elementary school teacher of 27 years. She’s taught in one school her entire career, Mansfield Elementary. Mansfield is the school she attended as a child.

We live on the same family land she grew up on. Her father, the son of a sharecropper, worked hard and earned enough to purchase some of that land his family farmed. And now the Hodges family owns a nice portion of farmland on Hodges Circle and Hwy 229. My family are beneficiaries of those labored years of sweat and toil.

And now, as a 27-year professional educator, who has seen so many changes in teaching paradigms and instructional programs, who has witnessed the downward spiral in classroom behavior of students the last 20+ years, and who has watched technology and politics change education completely…my wife feels like she is the last of her kind, too.

I am a life-long resident of Newton County. I worked on the Square at the Red & White Grocery store as a teenager. I worked at J.C. Pool Men’s Clothing store. Even during my “wild years” as a musician, our band would rehearse “under” the Square in the old Mickey’s Diner storage area (somewhere beneath the current Mystic Grill and Tropical Nails).

I’ve seen trends come and go. I’ve been educated here at Newton County High School, in Athens at UGA, and downtown ATL at Georgia State. I’ve toured a third of the U.S. in a 90s alternative band, and I’ve interacted with all types of people in dive bars, pizza parlors, music festivals, college campuses, city events, rural shindigs, and every type of church you could imagine. And what I’ve learned is that most of us, across this great country and across time, want the same things.

We love family. We care about our kids. We want a safe place to live, work, and play. We want to see our communities get along and move ahead at a pace we can sustain. We want to hang onto the past with a touch of nostalgia while we offer better opportunities to the next generation. We have pride in our local sports: collegiate, high school, and recreational. We don’t want to be taxed to death, but we value good infrastructure, roads, trails, parks, recreation, police & fire protection, and solid public education. We have more in common than the differences the media portrays.

To see the above come to fruition, our community leaders must lean in, stop fighting each other, leave the political polarity, work together, meet in the messy middle, and make sure the main things remain the main things. The messy middle is where decisions are made, and consensus is gained.

This is where I feel like the last of my kind. I am proudly a moderate on social issues (some may argue liberal), conservative on fiscal issues, and a diplomat amongst differing parties. I don’t spit out Republican sound bites and fear-phrases. And I don’t disparage my Democrat-party friends.

I have been a card-carrying Libertarian most of my life and have only recently found a home in the moderate wing of the Republican Party, and only then because the State of Georgia won’t allow non-partisan elections for local Boards of Education. And please don’t hear me wrong, I’m not “wiggly.” I have my convictions and I have my principles. But ALL of them are formed by my understanding of the Holy Scriptures. And from what I read, I am to love the Lord my God with all my heart, all my mind, and all my soul. And I should love my neighbor as myself. Even that, using the Bible as my ultimate north star, makes me feel like the last of my kind sometimes.

Recently, when Oliver Anthony’s song “Rich Men North of Richmond” went viral, I realized there may be millions and millions of other folks who share my sentiment and feel like they are “livin’ in the new world…with an old soul.” So, maybe I’m not the last of my kind!?!

When it comes to the good of our community, I WANT to work together with people who see the world differently than I do: new souls, old souls, all souls. I NEED their perspective to make the best decisions for our entire community. My Republican and Democrat friends have good ideas that come from a good heart for their constituents, family, and friends. I need to hear them. And earning their trust means they’ll hopefully hear me out, too.

I want to have real discussions, sometimes difficult conversations, where I can ask questions about issues and perspectives where I’m ignorant, implicitly biased, or just plain wrong. And before you get self-righteous, we are ALL ignorant, biased, and wrong about something. We all have blind spots. We need each other to help see the complete picture.

I believe THIS is the way forward. I believe THIS is the way to unity. If one “side” wins completely then so many people lose. But if we have real conversations, no matter how awkward and uncomfortable, and listen to each other, I believe we will make better decisions for our community as a whole.

This does not come easy though. The tragedy is that when you make your claim to be in the middle, and you truly want to fight for what is best for your community, you take hits from both sides. You become caught in the crossfire. And that’s a tough place to survive for long. It’s easier on the extreme poles to find allies and safety, but then, how much do you really accomplish that far from center? So much progress can be made in the middle.

Maybe it is time we stop speaking in viral soundbites and start listening to each other. Maybe it is time we stop assuming the worst about each other and begin giving each other the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it is time we stop politicizing and demonizing the other perspective and start treating others as human again. Maybe it is time we focus on local issues instead of assuming every national issue is attacking our community. Maybe it is time we stop listening to big media and their fear-mongering rhetoric and start having real conversations with our neighbors. BTW, your real neighbors are more than algorithms.

I believe that the middlers should stand up and make some noise. Those of us in the trenches need to know you’re out there. We need someone to lock arms with and stand our middle ground. Because that’s where the best decisions are made for all, in the middle.

I’ve been having conversations all around town and there seem to be a ton of folks who claim to see things more moderately than Twitter and Facebook want us to believe. I’m beginning to think I’m not the last of my kind. I KNOW there are others who feel the same way. So, whether you’re an old soul in a new world, a churchgoer or an atheist, a liberal or a conservative, a musician or a farmer, a Republican or a Democrat… I think there’s room for all of us in the messy middle.

Trey Bailey is a life-long resident of Newton County, married with three daughters, serves his congregation as a Pastor at Eastridge Church, and serves his community as the district 1 representative on the Board of Education. To read more of his thoughts on education, ramblings about life, and inspirational messages, check out his blog at www.TreyBailey.us.