Conversations can change us. They can change families, organisations and communities. And they can change our planet’s demise.
We are in a unique and critical moment in the world’s history. Where the dominant paradigm of extraction and exploitation has manifested in inequality, dis-ease, destruction and extinction.
In the words of poet David Whyte, to change, we have to stop the conversations we have been having.
Stop those conversations
The conversations that have lead us to this point. The conversations that come from disconnection, with ourselves, each other and the earth that is our home. Where we ignore our true nature. The ones where we don’t even see, sense or seek out but also purposely exclude the other, human or non-human. Where we don’t truly listen but just wait to speak. And the ones where the conversation is more like ping pong, where we just trade opinions and beliefs; opinions and beliefs which we really don’t even know the source of. And those conversations where we seek evidence to justify or build on what we already know. As well as those ones where we sit rigid with our fixed agenda or narrow focus. Where we shout simple answers to complex problems. Or shut things down, because we can’t bear not being in control or not knowing or being vulnerable. The ones where we don’t reveal how we actually feel.
Start these conversations
We go back to basics and learn to reconnect with our own true nature. In order to really enter dialogue, with all interbeings. We unlearn and relearn to foster inclusivity and creativity, to create systemic shift and generate collective awareness and positive action. Actively embracing not needing to know it all, we open to mystery and paradox. We connect with our innocence and wonder and learn to ask questions with compassionate curiosity. Learning to deeply listen we ‘lean in softly with a willingness to be changed by what we hear’, as the poet Mark Nepo says. We sit with questions and learn how silence contributes to dialogue. Slowly we become more aware of how our biases filter the view of our world, and influence what we embrace and what we dismiss. We notice how our life positions influence how we regard ourselves and others, and how we turn up and engage in conversations. We learn to speak and listen from the heart. Ultimately, we re-member through coming back to our body, and learn to observe what arises within and find new ways of responding, connecting and expanding. And resetting.
At Earth Converse we help leaders have the conversations they need to.
Like when I turned up in an Italian town to support a team of European leaders at EURid. As we sat in a circle, I simply asked them “what is the most important thing we need to talk about today?” It showed, as advocated by Otto Scharmer of Theory U, with an open mind, open heart and open will, we transform through dialogue. We can soften, boundaries can collapse and from there, we can co-create new possibilities and paths.