News this week: more shootings... more dead and injured... more assumptions and incorrect conclusions... more blaming. No solutions. No healing. What is happening to our world? What is happening to us?
I read online and have heard many people saying, "Is this a turning point? Are we ready to change course?"
What do you think: are we?
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Are you happy? (Photo: Dead Fish Skin, Djรบpivogur, Iceland - Larry Gardepie, 2025) |
Questions I ask myself -- and each of you: Am I happy? Are you happy? How does this news make us feel? Some have expressed anger, frustration, confusion, isolation, and impotence. What are your thoughts? How are you feeling right now?
Maybe it is a turning point... if we each make a choice. Are you ready to choose?
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What emotions are boiling below the surface? (Photo: Thermal Vents, Iceland - Larry Gardepie, 2025) |
There may be some answers in the two-year Dialogue Practicum I participated in. We learned about three stances that assist in the practice of dialogue:
- Noticing (awareness)
- When do we not notice... and therefore cannot act freely?
- When do we notice... and can choose to respond differently?
- Non-Violence
- When do I think ill of myself or others... and do violence to both?
- When do I respect myself and others... and practice non-violence?
- Non-defended Learning
- When are we defended or defensive... and our ability to work with others is limited?
- When do we support individuals and groups... and pursue options that benefit everyone?
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What happens if we don't change course? (Photo: Icebergs off the Greenlandic coast - Larry Gardepie, 2025) |
Is the Turning Point in ourselves:
- The Awareness that we are not happy with the current state of our world?
- The Choice not to do harm to Self or Other?
- The Practice of asking questions and trying to understand?
If we are not happy, let's Turn Together and seek a new way of being.
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Larry Gardepie
Dialogue San Diego Consulting
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