Last weekend I traveled to New York Mills, Minnesota for the Great American Think-Off. It’s an annual event sponsored by the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center that brings people together to debate big ideas. Contestants from around the world are invited to submit a 750-word essay arguing one side or the other for the prompt of the year and four finalists are invited to the stage to read their essays and argue their positions in person. The winner is crowned “America’s Greatest Thinker,” and this year it was Allen Taylor, an over-the-road truck driver from Colorado Springs, Colorado.

It’s a great exercise in civic dialogue. Entertaining and informative. The audience is invited to sit with opinions that may differ from their own, and in the end, the audience votes for the winner.

This year, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of America’s founding, the Think-off’s prompt was drawn from one of our founding documents. The Declaration of Independence promises “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” but it doesn’t really define what that means.

The prompt for the night was, “Has the pursuit of happiness made Americans unhappy?”

In the midst of the event, we set up a public studio so that during the intermissions and during the receptions, others could answer the question, too. But for our purposes, they were asked to answer in 25 words or less.

The answers were great. Diverse and thoughtful. Challenging at times. It continues to amaze me how much of a story can be told in 25 words or less.

This was a first step for a two-year project we will be working on across the state of Minnesota, asking people to reflect on how we are doing as a nation at this milestone. What have we done well, and what work remains to lean toward that more perfect union.

The work is supported by McKnight Foundation and we couldn’t be more excited about the partnership. It is A Peace of My Mind’s first institutional support and we are honored by the legacy of community building that McKnight is known for.

Over this first year, we will gather stories from five communities in the state. We will do long-form interviews and short-form studios. We will lead listening circles and create podcasts to do what we have been doing for years. Listening for a broad range of experiences. Hearing voices that are often not heard loudly enough. Exploring the honest challenges of our day, while always keeping a hopeful eye on what else is possible.

After a year of gathering stories, we will create a new exhibit and spend the second year bringing it around the state, leading public programming and facilitating dialogue around what we do well and where we can do better.

It’s a big project and we are excited to get going. Right now we are in the process of identifying all five community partners and making our plans for the year. This event presented itself just as we were coming out of the gates and it seemed like a good place to start.

Has the pursuit of happiness made Americans unhappy?

How would you answer the question?