Communication

So important~

When we feel judged, we hide our love away, we put up our walls, we resist. If your theory of change depends in any way on the idea that telling someone what is wrong with them will lead to them changing what is wrong with them, you will be sorely ineffective.

Simeon Zahl • How Do People Actually Change? - Mockingbird

From there, I have a few go-to questions that I have found create reliably engaging discourse:

• What's your connection to [insert current place or event]?

• What are you most excited about currently?

• What's lighting you up outside of work?

• What’s your favorite book you’ve read recently?

Note: Always avoid "What do you do?" as a question. It's

Do not break that silence.

Communication is the birthright of living organisms to make combinations, contrasts, and generate relationships. To climb a mountain is to combine the body's balance, muscles, temperatures, and breath with the circumstances of the hike. Is it a date? Or are you running from a bear? We combine information beyond our verbal words. We combine impressi... See more

Alexander Beiner • The Bigger Picture

The longer I live the more I learn that love — whether we call it friendship, family, or romance — is the work of mirroring and magnifying each other’s light.

—James Baldwin

Directness can be a compliment. You’re saying, I know you can handle this.

— Haley Nahman

“The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing in the right place, but, far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.”

(Dorothy Nevill)