Conventional wisdom would have us keep our options open. Don’t commit until you have to—and even then, always have a backup plan. The world’s a big place with lots of choices, and you deserve your crack at all of them.

That might be conventional wisdom. But our guest today, Pete Davis, firmly disagrees.

In fact, he wrote a whole book about it. It’s called “Dedicated: The Case for Commitment in an Age of Infinite Browsing.” And in it, Pete lays out not only why committing ourselves to something greater can give our lives more meaning and purpose, but why commitment can lead us to becoming more engaged and effective citizens of our world.

Pete is a civic advocate from Falls Church, Virginia, and a graduate of Harvard Law School where his graduation speech, “A Counterculture of Commitment” went viral. As he says in our interview, his passion isn’t just commitment; his passion is deepening American solidarity and democracy. To that end, he cofounded the Democracy Policy Network, and travels the country promoting projects and initiatives that build up local democratic institutions—thus giving more people more power over their political and civic lives.

As you listen to Pete talk, you’ll note that the principles of Catholic social teaching and Ignatian spirituality are never far from his mind. Pete gives us a masterclass in how to translate the Ignatian tradition into political engagement—and how to do so with joy.

You can learn more about Pete and his work at petedavis.org.

And check out the film Pete mentions at the end of the conversation here: https://putnamdoc.com/