Exploring Ourselves, April 17, 2022

Exploring Ourselves

With Jackie McKinley

Sunday, April 17

Zoom Online

This was the second meeting of the “Exploring Ourselves” series for the month of April. Seventeen of us joined online to engage in a dialogue without any specified subject matter. In fact, given that there were a number of new people, we began with the question “What is dialogue?” Jackie presented some of the central ideas guiding dialogue, the most important one perhaps being the concern with freedom. In dialogue, she said, nobody tells anyone else what to do. But then how do we deal with people who are fired up about some idea or perspective and speak aggressively, violently, and so on? How do we speak to each other as dialogue unfolds and we start coming up with answers, solutions, and opinions? Do we respond with our own answers? What is dialogue if not just a sharing of ideas? And can we notice – be aware of – what is taking place in our responses and reactions at different levels of our consciousness as we interact in relationship? Jackie asked if we would take some moments of silence to be with the question and the group participants complied.

As the conversation moved on, it was asked if we need to be anyone or anything in particular. And can different ways of seeing be held in a space of mutual examination and respect? Do we need to take a position with regards to any idea? Is it best to contradict what is said if we feel it is less than fully true or is it more helpful to encourage further expression of the idea in an attempt to reach a greater depth of shared understanding? Is any skill involved in meaningful dialogue or is skill not a relevant factor? We looked from different angles at the process of communication within a group, seeming to find that an open and tentative approach is part of what is needed. We keep coming back to the idea that a sensitive awareness of our reactions is central to the dialogue process. We closed with a sense that the process is continuously unfolding and revealing new insights about ourselves. It is a creative exploration perhaps without an end.