Mayfield: I’ve changed my mind about daylight saving

I’ve changed my mind. For literal years I went on television each fall and each spring and lobbied hard to end the semiannual clock change.

I called up a college buddy who holds a seat in the state Legislature, and I pleaded with him to help.

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I wrote columns and posted on social media.

I can’t take any real credit, but I will say others felt the same as me, and there is a law on the books now in our state about switching to permanent daylight saving time (DST).

Federal approval still hasn’t happened despite our own Senator Patty Murray working with Florida’s Republican Senator Marco Rubio on doing just that.

So this weekend, we will once again spring forward. Next week will be groggy and disorienting.

And yet, after hearing all the arguments for year-round daylight saving time, year-round standard time, and now the arguments to keep it the same, I have to say I’ve changed my mind.

And in these deeply divided times, that is the point of this commentary.

I felt strongly one way, but I listened to others. I read the facts, I opened my mind to other outcomes. Even after years of digging in my heels, I have come to believe I was wrong, and I am now admitting it publicly.

It turns out, despite what our political parties, spiritual persuasions, or friend pods say, changing your mind isn’t a sin akin to murder, it can actually be a true good for you and the world.

In fact, maybe if more of us were willing to step out of our deep entrenchment and truly listen to each other, we could see that, and we could try it.

I’m not advocating for flip-flopping or wishy-washiness. Instead, I am saying that opening your heart and mind to differing points of view and always being willing to reevaluate where you fall can be a productive and healthy thing.

So I’m doing it. I’m admitting I may have gotten it wrong. I may have changed my mind. As for the question of what we actually do next regarding the time change, I honestly don’t know. So my mind is open to considering that the answer might be nothing.

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