ON THE IMPORTANCE OF FINDING COMMON PURPOSE

By chance this afternoon, I explored the website, "Forwarding the Conversation,"http://forwardingtheconvo.com/  In the subtext of Forwarding the Conversation, the creators say, We did not put our ideas together.  We put our purposes together.  And we agreed.  Then we decided."

First things first?  I noticed the sequence:  Connect purpose (not ideas); agree on that purpose--through careful talking and listening actions guaranteed to bring people closer together, and, finally, decide what's possible (not what's wrong) and keep asking.

When people connect/align their purpose, they talk about what is significant to them, what they care about.  This is an emotional thing, a declaration of passion.  As this is delved into and understood, possibly in ways never considered before, commitment grows and a sense of possibility, too.

As the conversation continues--with people we know, people we don't know and with those we never talk to, it helps--and makes the process more fun--if we expect to be surprised and if we treasure curiosity more than certainty.  Everyone is an exert about something.  New groups of people will make new connections and new connections are the source of creative solutions.

Is there a power greater than a community discovering what it cares about?  I doubt it!  Meaningful conversation can change our world.  I suspect it is the only thing that will.

Note:  I'll be returning to the website, Forwarding the Conversation.  For starters, I want to leave a reply to their invitation which begins with a quote by Woodrow Wilson:  "Simple means should be found by which an interchange of points of view may get together.  For the whole process of modern life is a process by which we must exclude misunderstandings, bring all men unto common counsel, and so discover what is the common interest."