Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Friday Night Salon

It's salon time again! If you have a comment/response to any of these, please feel free to write as little or as much as you want! Enjoy!

When was the last time you had a genuine conversation--an experience not of mere self-assertion but of speaking and listening as though you had something both to offer and to receive? Our habits of language define us, but the pace of our lives is such that the simple gestures of listening carefully and speaking prudently are amazingly rare. The Friday Night Salon aims at being an alternative to the urban rush that denies the civilizing graces of community. We begin with good food and drink, then take our places in a circle for discussion about a variety of relevant, substantial topics. It's a welcome way to end the Dallas workweek.

Discussion topics for November 14, 2008:
1. What happened on November 4th?
2. What is entertainment's place in a healthy culture?
3. Are homo sapiens intellectually curious by nature?
4. Chronos vs. kairos: can we control how we experience time?

1 comment:

Ginger said...

OK, I'll start. :)
I am completely stoked and curious about all of the questions except for one. And maybe that's the one I need to discuss the most. Number one is almost enough to make me not want to attend the salon this Friday, and that says a lot. I usually look forward to going for an entire month! We get to go into the Metroplex, eat out, dress up a little and get to sit among some of the brightest, most eloquent folks in all of the city. This week, I don't want to go.

For the same reason, Christine nudged me back into our favorite coffee house hang out. I didn't want to go. I haven't posted about it, and I don't really want to go into specifics because it is mostly a blurr, but I was pretty much verbally accosted for standing up (in a very non-confrontational, measured way) for something I believe in. The man who was rude to me created a very loud, disrespectful scene even after I politely asked him to stop talking to me. Part of what he was yelling at me about was what happened on November 4th. And when he was done (distracted really), and entire room surrounded me to make sure I was OK and to tell me that he was out of line.

There has been so much irrational yelling and illogical one-liners spewed, that I have lost respect for a lot of people in my community.

That being said, I am afraid that I'll lose repect at the salon, too, even though I know that people there are practiced at hearing each other and considering each other's statements. Conversation never gets out of hand or catty, and even when we disagree, we do it intelligently, with composure and respect.

I need to remember that.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Friday Night Salon

It's salon time again! If you have a comment/response to any of these, please feel free to write as little or as much as you want! Enjoy!

When was the last time you had a genuine conversation--an experience not of mere self-assertion but of speaking and listening as though you had something both to offer and to receive? Our habits of language define us, but the pace of our lives is such that the simple gestures of listening carefully and speaking prudently are amazingly rare. The Friday Night Salon aims at being an alternative to the urban rush that denies the civilizing graces of community. We begin with good food and drink, then take our places in a circle for discussion about a variety of relevant, substantial topics. It's a welcome way to end the Dallas workweek.

Discussion topics for November 14, 2008:
1. What happened on November 4th?
2. What is entertainment's place in a healthy culture?
3. Are homo sapiens intellectually curious by nature?
4. Chronos vs. kairos: can we control how we experience time?

1 comment:

Ginger said...

OK, I'll start. :)
I am completely stoked and curious about all of the questions except for one. And maybe that's the one I need to discuss the most. Number one is almost enough to make me not want to attend the salon this Friday, and that says a lot. I usually look forward to going for an entire month! We get to go into the Metroplex, eat out, dress up a little and get to sit among some of the brightest, most eloquent folks in all of the city. This week, I don't want to go.

For the same reason, Christine nudged me back into our favorite coffee house hang out. I didn't want to go. I haven't posted about it, and I don't really want to go into specifics because it is mostly a blurr, but I was pretty much verbally accosted for standing up (in a very non-confrontational, measured way) for something I believe in. The man who was rude to me created a very loud, disrespectful scene even after I politely asked him to stop talking to me. Part of what he was yelling at me about was what happened on November 4th. And when he was done (distracted really), and entire room surrounded me to make sure I was OK and to tell me that he was out of line.

There has been so much irrational yelling and illogical one-liners spewed, that I have lost respect for a lot of people in my community.

That being said, I am afraid that I'll lose repect at the salon, too, even though I know that people there are practiced at hearing each other and considering each other's statements. Conversation never gets out of hand or catty, and even when we disagree, we do it intelligently, with composure and respect.

I need to remember that.