“It takes courage to start a conversation. But if we don’t start talking to one another, nothing will change. Conversation is the way we discover how to transform our world, together.”
It is not easy to begin opening up to one another again. We stay silent and apart for many reasons. Some of us have always been asked to listen more and share less of our ideas and thoughts. From early growing days, we’ve been instructed to be quiet so others can tell us what to think. While some of us are accustomed to meetings to discuss ideas, have conversations, and lead them. These experiences might have left many hesitant to speak and frightened of each other’s opinions being judged.
Good conversations are very different from the ones not done. Sharing the dialogues has been instrumental in bringing out change, whether it be slavery to racism, and how narrative is shaped the period. It is a much older and more reliable way for humans to think together. Before there were meetings, planning processes, or any other techniques, there was conversation-people sitting around interested in each other, talking together. We can take courage because this is a process we all know how to do when we think about beginning a conversation. We are being together that all humans remember, reawakening an ancient practice. A Danish proverb blends it perfectly, “It reminds us what it is to be human.” We can also take courage from the fact that many people long to be in the conversation again. We are hungry for a chance to talk. People want to tell their stories and are willing to listen to each other. People want to talk about their concerns and struggles.
From my past experience in a group of visual creators, photographers, storytellers, we might have limited the process that our pictures would put out the meanings. Still, the need to share the words has been an eminent element to complete the story. We develop courage for those things that matter to us, affect us profoundly, that speak our hearts, and find depth. It is comparatively easy to be brave once our heart is engaged; we only need enough courage to invite friends into a conversation. Change doesn’t happen from the top of the pyramid; it is from the base that is prepared. It begins deep inside a system when we notice something that does not fit well into the spectrum.
Starting a conversation can take courage, but the conversation also gives us courage. Thinking together, deciding what actions to take, more of us become bold. And we become wiser about where to use our courage. As we learn from each other’s experiences and interpretations, we see the issue in richer detail. We understand more of the dynamics that have created it. With this clarity, we know what actions to take and where we might have the most influence. We also know when not to act, when right timing means doing nothing.
Everyone has a story to tell, but some tell it differently. While we say everyone has a story to tell, we must not forget the way we narrate the story may be different, the language may be different, but the story we converse may be similar. We stop acting intelligently when we humans don’t have conversations with one another. We give up the capacity to empathize, we give up our humanity, and we don’t work to change anything. We become passive and allow others to tell us what to do. We forfeit our freedom and become objects without souls, not people. The most significant source of courage is realizing that nothing will change for the better if we don’t act. Reality doesn’t change itself; it needs our initiation to perform. It takes courage to start a conversation. But if we don’t start talking to one another, nothing will change. Conversation is the way we discover how to transform our world together.
