Wholesome connecting in public places
I was talking recently at a bus stop with an American lady whose business is Human Resources consulting. In the course of which I mentioned the Conversare approach to bringing people together to enjoy the company of people they may not know.
Her immediate response was “Do you mean that they interact? How extraordinary.”
Isn’t it astonishing that people find it ‘odd’ that there can be social functions in public places in which close connecting does happen?
Have you ever been in a pub or restaurant or hotel in which there was a social gathering, with a host, in which anyone was welcome to join in lively conversation, step into some circle dancing, add their voice to lusty singing and laugh a lot? From which you went away feeling that you were included in a circle of friends who had enjoyed a fun time together
This is what happens in a Conversare event. While likely few people have such experiences and so find it difficult to conceive what they may be like they are now happening and could come to a venue near to you in the not too distant future!
This will happen if you and others around you wish it to be so. People who resonate with the words of this song which capture the poignancy of longing for something different. These were written by a great friend of mine, Lloyd Fell who lives in Sydney. They emerged in the course of he and I spending a few days together while driving from there to Adelaide several years ago.
I talk to people at work every day
And I’m affected by things that we say
We talk for power or self preservation
Winning the argument, justification
Needing agreement to guarantee outcomes
Separately having our way
I long to be able to speak without fearing
Trust and belong as a part of the whole
When we’re conversing we’re working together
Not just our minds but our heart and our soul
Chorus: For I’ve seen the sparkling eyes
I have felt that connection
We came together not to persuade
But to treat each other well
In this together whatever we say
At the Conversing Café
In this together whatever we say
At the Conversing Café
Talking and listening we do every day
Cultures created by all that we say
Speaking oppression, how heavy the heart is
Lightness and laughter are not just for parties
Speak without needing the answer you wanted
Let out your spirit to play
So we are able to speak without fearing
Trust and belong as a part of the whole
When we’re conversing we’re working together
Not just our minds but our heart and our soul
Repeat the chorus
LISTEN TO A RECORDING OF THIS SONG SUNG BY LLOYD FELL AND CATE BURKE (or verse 2 only).
Conversare incorporates the spirit of the ‘Conversing Café’ in enabling people , whoever they are, to come together to have such ‘heart and soul experiencing.’ Knowing that ‘strangers’ encountered in an event represent humanity and that all go away enriched through meeting each other.
Alan Stewart
Currently in the UK, next week in the US, exploring ways and means – and places – to enhance ‘connectedness’ among our fellow beings.
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