Combining advocacy and inquiry is an invitation to be in relationship. Our deepest-held values and viewpoints can be revealed and reviewed through an invitation to participate in a respectful journey of exploration. As I lay my thoughts and conclusions before you, I become vulnerable. Will you be gentle with me as you ask me questions and try to understand me? And will I, in a similar manner, listen to you and try to understand your views?
I liken this journey to the image of a child on a suspension bridge. As you watch the child begin the journey across the bridge, it looks like there is an initial pulse-racing trepidation about stepping out, followed by a hesitancy as the bridge begins to sway. As the child becomes accustomed to the movement and begins to feel safe, a more daring spirit emerges. The fun begins as the child reaches the center: the child hops up and down and actually laughs with the accomplishment of surviving!
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| Premar Jungle Journey (IKEA) |
As we describe our ideas, opinions, and positions, we can invite others onto the bridge by asking "What do you think?"... followed by listening, really listening, to the responses. This deep listening can occur even as we hold onto the bridge, as it and our position begins to sway! How vulnerable are we willing to be? How daring a journey are we willing to take as we explore differing ways of seeing the world?
Am I willing:
- To provide the data or facts that support a conclusion?
- To share the process of how I reached that conclusion?
- To explore my filters and assumptions?
- To seek out contradictions and allow my views to be tested?
It is the
journey together through this often shaky world that we arrive at a more wonderful and unexpected destination: conclusions that have been tested, proven to be trustworthy, and are more accurate than when I began alone. As with the child, we have survived together, and we have learned how to open and evaluate the gifted beauty of each person's contributions - and hopefully, we have had fun along the way!
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| Larry Gardepie |
