What brings people together, to forget their differences, to listen?
I started an experiment a few months ago, inviting a small group of people to listen in on conversations I would have. To eavesdrop, you might call it. There was no theme to the people I’d talk to. There was no official need for any one of my invited speakers to even do it. There was no need for me to do it either – it isn’t in my job description. Yet, week after fortnight (oh, there was no consistency to it either :D), people would show up to these. A handful at first. Then a few more, until it’s become a regular 70+ person attendance to these sessions. It’s swollen to 150 at times, and the conversations have sometimes gone well beyond the scheduled 55 minutes.
It’s incredibly satisfying to see this happen – a community form around a loose idea that humans around us are interesting, that they have a story to tell, and that we can all learn from each other. This is a labour of love, not a job and I’m grateful that I have the support to keep doing this week after week.
To my original question, what brings people together, to forget their differences, to listen? – I still don’t have an answer.