Ha ha ..
And you thought conversation was safe!
Why do you think we talk so much about the weather and avoid religion and politics??
We can all agree on the weather .. and the price of bread …
But what of religion and politics? Why are we threatened by another or different view that might conflict with our own?
Is dialogue not healthy and necessary – to understand one anther – to discover how or why someone has the view they have? Would that not be interesting?
Seems not. It seems we are more interested in safeguarding our own view, than in listening to someone else’s view, which is likely to be just as valid as our own, as a point of view, from where they’re standing.
Are we afraid to listen?
Are we afraid we might hear something that threatens more than our point of view? What could that be? Is it our identity?? Do we identify ourselves and each other as Right Wing or Left Wing or Catholic, or Hindu or Aethiest or American or Korean … or Vegeterian .. or Dyslexic … ?
Could we be ok to hold certain views on certain topics knowing it’s not who we are? Could we be willing to change our point of view simply by hearing or understanding something newly, without fearing losing our identity?
Dialogue is a specific way of communicating in conversation. It requires conversing. Alternating listening and speaking. And as we listen, our speaking might alter. And as we speak, our listening might alter. Dialogue is not alternating ‘monologues’, repeating a fixed opinion in the hope of brining someone over to your side. It’s actually listening to what they are saying from their unique point of view, and they listen as you express yours. It’s magical what we can hear when we actually listen to understand, not merely to reply!
I have always loved the analogy of the Master Mind: When ever there are two people present in a committed dialogue, there appears an invisible third; THAT is the MasterMind. That’s why brainstorming is so powerful. That’s where new ideas can spark off each with free associations resulting in explosions of creativity.
Perhaps that’s why it occurs as dangerous … how to control those ‘explosions’ of unleashed human potential … like a classroom of five-year-olds suddenly released into the playground …
How exciting …
I challenge you to explore the wonderful world of dialogue and see what can be unleashed in your playground … no that you’re no longer five ….
Be brave. Have fun ..
Love and Light
Eileen
