The Austin Aroma of a Conversation Café

by Mahalene Louis

Sunday, 1 pm. The drive to Triumph Café is lovely. Straight up the Mopac, under a wonderful sun!

1:15 pm. Tobin is already here; our table is ready. Between a few flyers, a little red and white table cloth, and the familiar blue and green round earth: it is unmistakable; a Conversation Café is about to be served! I like Tobin. He is always so kind, and so present when he listens.

1:20 pm. Guests start arriving. Some familiar faces, some not. What are we going to talk about today, I wonder? I always love seeing where the adventure of the day, the synergy of our table will take us. Conversation Café, here we come!

1:34 pm. We are now about 9 people gathered around one table. Helen suggests that we do our first round all together. We can always separate in two groups after that. I like the idea. I like Helen. Actually the more Conversation Cafés I attend, the more I like people. All people. Oh! Here is Laura. I am so happy she made it! She looks radiant in her green sweater.

1:35 pm. “I am Mahalene, and I will be your host today. I came to Conversation Cafés after a Green Festival which took place in Austin last Fall. Susan Partnow, co-founder of Conversation Cafés, came from Seattle for this event…” While I am speaking, a part of me is a tiny bit concerned. Not much. Just a tiny bit. I know that the Let’s Talk America group is going to go outside, and that we will be the inside table, and talk about… “Let us start with a minute of silence to quiet our minds!”

1:37 pm. Mark followed my sharing. A student in architecture, he came after hearing one of his professors speak of CCs. He brought an open mind and the willingness to learn. Vasilius also studied architecture. Being from Greece, he spoke of the differences he saw between America and Europe. Patricia shared her passion for permaculture, Laura spoke of the transformation at work for her, Helen expressed her concern with the immediacy of the Medias…

And then it happens, somewhere between round one and round two, we transcend time! Energy connects us, and a delicious aroma enlivens and titillates us. We are now savoring a Conversation Café: it is warm, it is friendly, it is candid, it is unguarded. It is a listening, a sacred listening. Is this why our theme ended up being community? Is this taste what is being alluded to as the Universal Mind of God? Is this when we concluded with the C of Conviviality? Finally, is this how we heard the “hard” of community transforming into the “heart” of community? Who knows! And that is the whole point: nobody knows at a Café. Nobody knows because it is not about knowing something or planning anything; it is, on the contrary, about forgetting that we might know something. It is about letting go of outcomes and blueprints alike. It is about the courage to be vulnerable enough that ONE voice can be heard; the voice that is speaking now!

This piece was written by mahalene louis, inspiration anchor, artist, author, and speaker, who can be reached at [email protected], 512.632.8952 or visited on the web at www.soulvision.com. To enjoy more of mahalene’s aromatic writings, subscribe now to her engaging Turn on the Light! e-zine: it will change your perception! Mahalene is also the innovator of Conversation Telecafe, and invites you for a phone refill on the first Thursday of every month, starting December, 8P Eastern.
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