Conversare – looming to coming up online
Life is what happens when we’re making other plans …
The coronavirus pandemic has brought this to the attention of everyone on our little planet, 3rd from the sun.
Massively, for there has not ever been disruption on such a scale to lives of all of us, worldwide, in recorded history.
Here is one particular instance, in far-flung Adelaide, way down at the bottom of Australia.
For it concerns a particular kind of social gathering in public places in which meals are served.
Called Conversare, named from the Latin con versare – to turn or to dance together.
Which is a way of socialising that I invented while living happily in Hong Kong for six years returning to Adelaide in 2011.
To have a sense of what this is see Conversare in America
Also, Feedback from previous participants.
More extensively for over a decade of ‘being’ from Mr Google
In essence, a host welcomes all comers, outlines the process and invites everyone to choose a meal and then find someone they don’t know to share time together in exploring questions such as:
What has attracted you to be here? Who are you? What gives you joy in life? What brings you pain?
To add for the future: How have you felt about the coronavirus pandemic and its associated prescribed social rules of being in contact with others? And have your life and beliefs about what is important changed?
With the underpinning concept that people, whoever they are and whatever their background and beliefs, have in this way an opportunity recognise their common humanity.
These face-to-face conversations go on for about an hour. After which all come into a circle. At which the host invites everyone to share – if they wish – what they felt and learned about their paired exchange.
Recent developments:
A further number of Conversare events were all set to go in new venues in which meals are served. These were to be held in the next few weeks in a local council area near the coast in a northern suburb of Adelaide.
With much interest in this expressed by residents in this area. And several restaurants and cafés lined up as venues. Plus a widely publicised public speaking engagement was scheduled in mid-April for me to outline the history, essence and process of these happenings.
Now that public gatherings are no longer happening the question has come to my mind:
What about staging these events online using Zoom or similar technology?
While being ‘somewhat complicated’ given that all participants and host will be connected together at the beginning and end of the process. And ‘in the middle’ participants will converse in pairs – chosen at random and likely based in different parts of the globe.
With this idea in mind, I contacted a colleague in another project who is highly experienced with online community-based enterprises.
At first, she was a bit taken aback by the prospect of setting up such arrangements. But called me back today to say “Yes, this can be done! Details coming later.”
And so a new way of conducting Conversare is in process of emerging…
Could this mean that ‘magic’ is on the wing?
For could this make for widespread recognition and associated deeper understanding that ‘We are in this together and to treat each other well. And to personal experience of ‘Whenever we do this good things happen?’
World-renowned British journalist puts this associated perspective.
Covid-19 is nature’s wake-up call to complacent civilisation | George Monbiot | Opinion | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/25/covid-19-is-natures-wake-up-call-to-complacent-civilisation
Added: The link above is not functional here, for reasons unknown to me. But you will be able to see the content if you copy it into your browser.
Watch this space for developments on how to participate in Conversare online. (smile)
Looking forward
Go well
Al
Al (formerly Alan) Stewart, PhD
Process Artist
Facilitator of conversations that matter and participatory fun
Senior Fulbright Scholar
Blog: www.conversare.net
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