Dear Doug, dear Judy.dear sparkling ones everywhere. I love this, Doug: "Conversation is how we awaken". And the questions you pose here are just the questions I ask myself over and over again.
. With whom are you able to converse about such important things? Where do they congregate? Are they college people? Intellectuals Religious? Manual laborers? Yes, yes Yes--all of them, everywhere, everyone to whom something matters . Where is the well of the sparkling today? Right here, in this conversation we are having. . Who are the people who are most enlivened by these conversations? They are those to whom the question has been posed, the invitation extended . Where have you found them? Through my work, in my community, on this list . How can I identify similar people in my community? Ask a question, host those who come to answer it. I'm starting to feel like a gopher, who has just popped his head out of his hole and looks around and sees with some surprise and gratification, that he is not alone, that there are other gophers who have also popped their heads out and are looking around and seeing each other. Barbara Marx Hubbard talks about this phenomena in her book Conscious Evolution. (she uses the term "cultural creatives" or "cocreatives" rather than gophers, but you'll get the gist) . What are the conditions for genuine dialogue which you have identified? In my work as a facilitator, trainer, consultant, coach I find I do have many opportunities to engage with people about what matters most to them. I find that the kinds of training (leadership training and communications skills, that sort of thing) I offer is giving way more and more to constructing environments in which conversation can occur. That's in the more formal settings. Informally, in my community, I also find opportunities for this deeper kind of conversation. There is one magic key and that is in the kinds of questions we pose to ourselves and one another. It appears that the kinds of questions we ask set the tone, the context and the quality of conversations we have. Ultimately the kinds of questions we ask ourselves create our future. (I am reading a great book by Marilee Adams called Change your questions, change your life. She really gets that the question is everything. Everything. Well, 99% of 'it', I think) Here are some of the conditions I've found are necessary. Desire: to be heard, to create something different, something new, to connect, to engage. In other words, I can't make you want to be in conversation with me, I can only extend the invitation, (and the form of that invitation can be an irresistible question that you will want to engage) Safety: enough trust between us, or in the environment, that our thoughts, our selves will be honoured. I love Judi's way of describing it: "To draw a line in the sand that says learning, caring, laughter, compassion, precision, abundance and focus are what we practice here." Recognition: of one another's gifts, and that what brings us together in this conversation matters to us Humility and vulnerability: if I can bring these to our conversation, I open up the possibility for all of us to speak from our hearts William Isaacs says: Dialogue requires that we be willing to suspend memory, desire and assumptions, and exist, if only for a moment, for the other person. How about you? What conditions have you found are necessary for generative conversation?? With love, Kathryn -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of Douglas D. Germann, Sr. Sent: Friday, July 22, 2005 10:14 AM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: While any of us yet live... Judi, O sparkling one-- Want to ask you the same questions as I asked Kathryn--who were the people who came to your Art of Hosting and Practice of Peace? How do we find them? Where do they congregate? Are they college people? Intellectuals? Religious? Manual laborers? Where is the well of the sparkling today? :-Doug. Who needs to be heard? * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist