Conversation Café

What questions do you want to put in the midst of a caring, lively group of people?

Topics for Dialogue...not Discussion
Jim Rough, Port Townsend, WA host

One of the most frequent questions we hear from hosts is: how can I create or find topics for my Conversation Café? In our last newsletter, CC co-creator Susan Partnow wrote an article on The Art of Framing Questions. Here we include topics from 2½ years at Jim Rough's highly successful Café in Port Townsend, Washington. Jim writes about CCs:

I LOVE the conversations at our Conversation Cafés ... I get an AHA! at practically every one because it's DIALOGUE rather than DISCUSSION. If you don't know the difference, you should come.

2002
April 19 - How is your life different after 9/11???
April 26 - Israeli/Palestinian war
May 3 - Potluck topic
May 10 - How can all of us live well within the earth's means? ...
Are you hopeful or fearful and why?
May 17 - What is the role of power in relationships and society?
June 14 - Chaos vs. 'Going with the flow'
June 21 - Corporate dominance
June 28 - War? Peace? -- What's best for humanity?
July 19 - Men/Women ... Gender baggage
July 26 - Health ... To be healthy
Aug 2 - Potluck topic
Aug 9 - Nurturing, Mentoring
Aug 16 - The System's effect on us... positive/negative
Aug 23 - The urge to action. When is enough?
Aug 30 - Mutually transforming ...
Sept 6 - Stories and Cultural Myths
Sept 13 - Finding Right Livelihood
Sept 20 - What is it to Respect self and others?
Sept 27 - Male/Female Rituals and Passages
Oct. 4 - What is Community-building?
Oct 11 - The human place in natural cycles
Nov 1 - Power and Responsibility
Nov 8 - What is the mind?
Nov 15 - Intention and manifestation
Nov 22 - What is control?
Nov 29 - Becoming more than you've ever been
Dec 13 - Living with integrity
Dec 20 - Status and class
Dec 27 - Iraq ... How can this be happening?

2003
Jan 3 - What is trust?
Jan 10 - What is "We" and when does it happen?
Jan 17 - Discernment and Judgment
Jan 24 - How can we trust the media?
Jan 31 - Dealing with DATA SMOG
Feb 7 - Money!?
Feb 14 - What's our next evolutionary step?
Feb 21 - Words . Some heal, some hurt
Mar 7 - Discovering Delight
Mar 14 - Who is in charge? . the question of authority
Mar 21 - Our consumer culture . Is it worth the price?
Mar 28 - What makes us laugh?
April 4 - Innocence or Ignorance
April 11 - "Local Mind"
April 18 - Being Passionate
April 25 - Values Disconnect
May 2 - Transitions
May 9 - What satisfies us
May 16 - Becoming multicultural
May 23 - What is love?
May 30 - Spam!?
June 6 - What is "meaningful"?
June 13 - What is "happiness"?
June 20 - Living our highest values
June 27 - What is "intelligence"?
July 11 - What is a "breakthrough"
July 18 - What is "consciousness"
Sep 5 - Surviving in the world of money
Sep 12 - Passion for life
Sep 19 - Health ... Real health.
Sep 26 - Time ... Do you have any?
Oct 3 - What does it mean to TRUST?
Oct 10 - FRIENDSHIP
Oct 17 - TURNING POINTS in your life
Oct 24 - Being ALONE vs. loneliness
Oct 31 - The value of OPTIMISM
Nov 7 - The value of OPTIMISM
Nov 14 - Waiting for a MIRACLE
Nov 21 - What's the MEANING of life?
Nov 28 - Thanks-giving ... The role of GRATITUDE
Dec 5 - Follow your HEART vs. HEAD
Dec 12 - Playing a role vs. really living
Dec 19 - Looking at myself ... holes vs. wholes
Dec 26 - Persistance vs. Knowing when to stop

2004
Jan 2 - To Dream the Impossible Dream
Jan 9 - Mentors
Jan 16 - Reflection and Authenticity
Jan 23 - The World Ship . Spaceship Earth
Jan 27 - Fear
Feb 6 - Forgetting
Feb 13 - Choice
Feb 20 - Projection
Feb 27 - Power
Mar 5 - Caring
Mar 12 - Time
Mar 19 - The media
Mar 26 - Being positive
Apr 2 - Globalization
Apr 9 - Sharing ideas
April 16 - Privatization
April 23 - Religious fundamentalism
April 30 - Rich and Poor
May 7 - Consumptionism
May 14 - Fundamentalism
May 21 - Facing dragons
May 28 - Being home
June 4 - Elections
June 11 - The endangerment of deep talking
July 16 - Farenheit 9-11
July 23 - The stories our culture tells us
July 30 - The stories our culture tells us, Part 2
Aug 6 - Ethics
Aug 13 - Security
Aug 20 - Authenticity
Aug 27 - What is learning?
Sept 3 - The real reality
Sept 10 - Judgment and Discernment
Sept 17 - Fairness and Luck
Sept 24 - The truth
Oct 1 - Grief
Oct 8 - Me and the System
Oct 15 - I should, you should
Oct 22 - Personal power
Oct 29 - Choices vs. Decisions
Nov 5 - Dialogue vs. Talking
Nov 19 - Taking the long view
Dec 10 - The News
Dec 17 - Hope for the Future

2005
Jan 14 - The Tsunami
Jan 21 - Emergence! ... How "stuff" self-organizes
Jan 28 - Making Life-Changes
Feb 4 - The state of PEACE
Feb 11 - Hiding from myself
Feb 18 - Enthusiasm
Feb 25 - How my passion Makes a Difference
March 4 - Gender dominated systems
March 11 - Curiosity and surprise
March 18 - What it takes to be human
March 25 - Turning points in life
April 1 - Relationships
April 8 - Taking "time out"
April 15 - Enforcing the laws
April 22 - Acceptance
April 29 - Our relationship to time
May 6 - Emotional integration
May 13 - Naivete vs. Knowledge vs. Denial