The healthy social life is found when in the mirror of each human soul the whole community finds its reflection, and when in the community the virtue of each one is living.
— Rudolf Steiner
The art of conscious conversation is the expression of appreciation, respect and concern for others within our community. It is a living process that involves awareness, attention and presence.
The conversation begins with a fundamental shift — moving our attention from individual concerns and judgment to a turning toward our fellow human being(s) with genuine interest and appreciation.
Speaking in the art of conscious conversation involves a picturing and imagination — the sharing of purpose and intention, with the discernment of what is critical. We speak from both the very center and edge of who we are and who we are becoming, as individuals and community; past, present, and future intermingle.
In the heart of the conversation, time slows down, allowing a deep listening, compassion and a growing recognition of the other. The conversation moves beyond empathy and understanding — from holding to letting go of all that has been spoken and heard. This clearing allows us to enter a space of stillness and presence that gives way to another kind of listening and noticing — an awareness of what is beginning to reveal itself.
Awakened understanding and abundance emerge slowly — or quite suddenly — in the form of new capacities and possibilities for co-creating and co-evolving, as individuals and community.
As a living process, the art of conscious conversation takes place at the threshold of where we stand in relationship to ourselves and in service to others. It is a social practice and transformation from individual to community that inspires the development of capacities and a new activism.
The art of conscious conversation is not an abstract ideal, but a practical path based on the awareness of the needs and gifts of each person in the community — a path of integrity and sustainability in the 21st century.