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Questions

During the first Conversation Week in Seattle (2002), all cafés touched on the following set of questions.

  • How is 9/11 changing your life?
  • Where do you see reason for hope?
  • What are you now called to do?

These were starting points and touchstones, not walls. What other questions do you want to put in the midst of a caring, lively group of people? Powerful questions are at the heart of Conversation Cafés. Here are a few that our hosts and partners have come up with. Use them as is, or let them inspire your own questions.

  • What is our common good?

  • What do I really care about?

  • What am I here to do?

  • What do you do when you don't know what to do?

  • What beliefs and values do we hold most dear in this time of uncertainty and change?

  • What do we really mean by "security"?

  • In the context of current events, how do we create community for the common good?

  • In the midst of this catastrophe, what illusions about myself and my world am I starting to see through?

  • What realities am I starting to touch, whether of a painful or hopeful sort?

  • What is missing for our world to no longer be a breeding ground for anger and terrorism?

  • What would be the essential elements for creating a world that is thriving, sustainable and just for all?

  • What is the larger possibility of the Global Coalition Against Terrorism? How can we make that possibility a reality?

  • What is the deeper meaning of the events of September 11 and this period in our common history?

  • What stories of hope and possibility can I see at this critical moment in our human community?

  • What can I do personally in my own world (family, organization, community) to make a difference and to promote a life affirming future?

  • What deeper opportunities might this time make possible? What can we each do personally to contribute to a life affirming future.. for ourselves and for others around us?

"There is no such thing as a worthless conversation, provided you know what to listen for. And questions are the breath of life for a conversation."

--James Nathan Miller

"In light of our common tragedy, one thing was made clear to me: our shared investment in the kinds of relational practices from which more positive futures can be molded is absolutely essential. The day is filled with problem talk: 'If we could just have more security,' 'If we can just find the culprits and bring them to justice,' etc.--as if returning to the status quo will make everything okay. But in a world of enormous differences in beliefs, values, rationalities, and realities, our status quo can be hell for others. I have heard no one speak of how we might come together to create a more positive world, how common visions can be coordinated, how we can develop the kind of dialogue that would make such brutality unthinkable.
Let us pull together, renew our energies, and share our vision in every direction."

--Ken Gergen,
author of "The Saturated Self"

 
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