What do you believe freedom is for?
Please start your answer with your city and country.
About Us
Once a year Conversation Cafes and co-hosts organize a week when everyone, everywhere is invited to sit down in small groups to consider together the most important questions in the world today. We live in challenging and complex times. No one knows THE answer, but everyone holds a piece of the answer. You can say your piece during Conversation Week. We, and the world, will be all listening.Read the Blog!
Recent Posts
- Globe & Mail: A Little More (Civil) Conversation
- Conversation Week in Second Life
- Discuss the Top 10 Questions Here
- Question 1: How can we best prepare our children for the future?
- Question 2: What does sustainability look like to you? How do we get there?
- Question 3: How do humans need to adapt to survive the changes predicted for this century?
- Question 4: How do we shift from “Me” to “We” on both the local and global levels?
- Question 5: How can you, as Gandhi said, be the change that you want to see in the world?
- Question 6: What kind of economic structures can best support a shift to sustainable living?
- Question 7: How should we re-invent the political process so that people feel that they have a voice?
- Question 8: What kind of leadership does the world need now?
- Question 9: How can we balance our personal needs with the most pressing needs of our community and the larger world?
Archives
Categories
How to Participate
> Find a Conversation> Host a Conversation
> Join an Online Conversation at
Explore the Site!
Media Partners
To learn more about ways to promote conversation, check out the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation.
I believe that freedom is for have our own experiences.
Vicki, Langley WA
The right use of freedom is to create the conditions for others to be free by helping them to see their choices - and the consequences of their choices. Freedom is the creative force in the universe and when we are creative, without inner or outer barriers to self expression, we feel free. in fact, everything is free to create - but there are always consequences and it’s grappling with those consequences consciously that opens us to greater freedom. that’s why making others aware of consequences and choices without any coercion is the act of freeing them.
Leslie, Santa Fe, NM
Quotes from a group of six…
Sometimes life is too compllcated for some. Some find that they have “too much freedom” to make bad choices. Some join a cult or join the army to purposefully give away some of their freedom. People choose to loose their freedom.
We have a responsibility to guarrantee freedom for others because we have privleges.
How does the US define freedom anyway? There are contradictions. It is a nice word, but pin it down.
Freedom is defined every day in congress, that is their job. Although it is not always what we have grown to expect. Boundaries continue to defined and refined. At one time (not long ago) women were not free to vote and people of color were not allowed to vote or enter certain places.
American society has become lazy. We are not driven to protect our freedom. The current administration is lazy because they use the act of resolve to avoid having to have difficult conversations with people who think differently. Resolve is an excuse not to engage in dialogue.
We have resolve so that we don’t have to engage in diplomacy (this is hard work).
The media feeds us “sound bites” of our current conversations. This has “driven freedom away.” To protect freedoms you need to look at the larger whole.
Freedom is not fashionable to talk about these days. Patriotism is also not fashionable. After 9/11 it was superficial and short lived.
Vicki Robin in Langley, WA
More comments from participants
Freedom includes the responsibility to make time to defend freedom
I need to commit to regular reflection on what choices I am making and their consequences.
Freedom is: the courage to be who one is, responsibility,self-awareness, action, accountability, opportunity to BE.
Freedom requires social responsibility, a set of guiding values and constraints o that it remains a balanced presence. All people should be Free to speak their experience, pursue their own potential.
During “Conversation Week” this is the question we explored. I would just like to share the different comments given to me at the end of the hour. This was great and I now host regularly.
Participant A:
Free to fly
Freedom of Politics
What decides what we think is “freedom”?
My fascination with oppression and self actualization
Paricipant B:
I thought it was cool that Rebecca said freedom of privacy. That’s an important freedom that doesn’t get talked about much.
Participant C:
I enjoyed talking and listening. Choices are important in life. Freedom has so many factors and levels.
Paricipant D:
I liked the perspectives shared, framing new ideas; love thinking via talk-motion.
One stick out: strict father v. nurturing mother + Rachel’s comment about needles in the trash can – where does/should freedom end? Also, about freedom allowed to an individual by the individual.
Participant E:
I enjoyed having other opinions and just getting out and not going straight home after work.
I liked the formalization of the conversation process. I believe it really helped me to focus on my listening skills. It’s nice to not trample on peoples thoughts!
Participant F:
1) Enjoyed the gentle structure of the conversation
2) I value the exploriation! It was an hour that took me out of my usual routine and usual topics and interests. Very cool.
3) It would bun to get many of the same participants together again – I bet it would go deeper and even sideways!
Jason:
Freedom of mind. We are only as free as our minds, our thoughts allow us. We can be as free as a bird or jailed away depending on a our out look. The conversation café was great. All participants contributed in their own way to make the encounter positive. Everyone was respectful of others comments lending to an open dialogue. I think this is a fantastic idea and more and more people should be doing it.
Oops, the above is from Seattle, WA, March 27th, 2007
Hello! Good Site! Thanks you! wcfhkfczlzc
Thanks for this site!
hifue.info
mortgage direct lender mortgage buying lender