🎧Ep19: Uniting Fractured Communities With Dialogue
“We lose so much potential when we focus on our differences.”
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Episode #19: “Uniting Fractured Communities Through Dialogue” with Kathleen Oweegon
Listen here:
You’ve probably noticed that our political landscape is dire. Everyone’s fighting, everyone has an enemy, and we’re no closer to solving society’s critical problems. How can we fix this?
In this episode with Kathleen Oweegon, discover amazing ways to start tuning in to the other side and understand your “enemy.”
Kathleen talks about the magic of using certain questions in dialogue to bridge the gap and bring people together. She tells incredible anecdotes about times she’s seen communities rise above their differences.
The more we positively interact with people who are different from us, the more we can work toward an omni-win future together.
Listen now to be inspired by this profound episode.
Highlights in this episode:
Kathleen and Duncan discuss how dialogue is severely underused when it could solve many problems.
Kathleen tells a powerful story about bringing police officers and activists together with dialogue after an event where both were injured.
Discover the key guidelines for successful dialogue.
Understand the distinction between dialogue and debate.
Duncan and Kathleen talk about how scary the current state of polarization and objectification is in our world.
Learn how our defensive behaviors further the divide.
Kathleen tells a beautiful story about uncovering the stories below piercings and tattoos.
Duncan: How are you seeing our political landscape from your perspective these days?
Kathleen: Honestly, I find it heartbreaking. I feel tears welling up in my eyes right this minute as I think about it, because the divisiveness, the objectification of one another has become so extreme.
We are so polarized, and there have been loud and powerful voices that seem to be feeding that divisiveness and modeling objectification of other human beings. The polarization is frightening to me and tragic in what's happening right now.
At the same time, I'm also feeling this upswell of people who are feeling as I do, that this is such a tragic and traumatic time that something needs to happen to shift this. And more and more people are stepping forward and saying, “Hey, I wanna understand you as a being, and I want to encourage other people to stop the polarization, to find ways to unify with one another.”
That's my license plate, by the way. My license plate says unify. Just my subtle little message. But people want that harmony, that collaboration and want to shift things. That gives me hope. I'm concerned that it is still a very small percentage of humanity and that we live in a time that is so frightening that we have that tendency to go into a very hyper-defensive mode.
Sometimes, our form of defense is to take an offensive approach as a way of protecting ourselves, of separating ourselves for what we believe to be our own safety. And so I fear because times are so hard right now and so scary right now that so many people are coming from a place of fear rather than the place of their heart.
And so, I am hoping and inviting everyone who's listening here to hold that hope with me, that we can achieve that shared humanity once again. And we can recognize that, yes, these are scary times, but that doesn't mean that we have to protect ourselves by hurting other people or by separating ourselves from other people.
Conversely, the more we collaborate, the more we share resources, the less scary life becomes. And so therein lies part of my hope as well.
About this week’s guest:
Kathleen is an educator, facilitator, mediator, communication coach, and the founder of Bridges of Peace, providing these services throughout the U.S. and around the world. She hosts the weekly podcast, “Co-creating Peace”, which focuses on conscious communication and conflict transformation.
The focus of her work is to help communities, organizations, and individuals become empowered to fulfill their greatest potential through dialogue, negotiation, and collaboration. This often involves bringing seemingly discordant voices together in collaborations that result in mutual understanding, wisdom and growth.
Connect with Kathleen
Email: oweegon@bridgesofpeace.com
Telephone: (505) 501-7000
Twitter: @KOweegon; @CocreatingPeace
Check out the info-packed episode page for more awesome resources.
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