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Welcome to the monthly Fearless Conversations newsletter - inspiration and tools to help us create a world in which fearless conversations are common in our workplaces, communities, families and friendships. Enjoy! Shyrl
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Who Knew? Who Knows!
When Robin Williams died a few weeks ago, it felt a bit like having the air knocked out of us. Someone's dying often has that effect on us; in Robin Williams' case, the experience of being left breathless was accompanied by the shock of such an abrupt, very un-funny loss of someone who gave us so much laughter. "Who knew?", we asked one another. "Who knew?" was the sub-text in headline news.
Do we ever know? I am reminded of the four-minute video I shared in this newsletter in April 2013. In Robin Williams' honor, I am linking it here. Even if you saw it before, I hope you will look at it again and share it with others. The setting is a healthcare facility, but the question the video poses from Henry David Thoreau can be asked anywhere: "Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each others' eyes for an instant?"
Perhaps we could say that Robin Williams' brilliance  was in his enormous capacity for empathy -- for looking through others' eyes. He seemed limitless in his ability to improvise caricatures and portray characters, whether in comedy, drama or a mix thereof. Truly, he could, as the video inspires us, ". . . stand in someone else's shoes, hear what they hear, see what they see, feel what they feel . . .". In the moments we were with him, he helped us do the same.
Who knew? Knowing one another can be so mysterious and complex sometimes. Can we know? Most often -- I don't think so -- not without guessing first. But guessing is key. Guessing is grounded in curiosity. When we engage in fearless conversations we choose to be curious; we disencumber ourselves from judgments, assumptions  and fears that blind us from truly knowing others. In the end, Robin Williams keeps us guessing: what did he hear, see, feel? We can conjecture, but our time and energy is more beautifully and productively spent when we ask those questions of our families, friends, colleagues and co-workers: I want to walk in your shoes. What do you hear? What do you see? What do you feel?
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Fearless Conversations Retreats
The practice of giving and receiving empathy is central to a Fearless Conversations Retreat. In most workplaces and organizations where I facilitate processes and meetings, people are doing their best to do their jobs, participate in numerous meetings, and interface with their public - all while living the rest of their lives, as well. They tolerate and manage stress coming at them from many directions. It is a gift to take some time away from work to support one another, to give and receive empathy. In a Fearless Conversations Retreat participants learn and practice skills to create openness, trust, enjoyment, ease, kindness and fun together. Click here for more information.
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Thank you for connecting Fearless Conversations with non-profit service organizations, schools, faith communities, small-to-mid-size businesses. Typically, I contract for design and facilitation of visioning or team-building retreats, strategic planning, meeting facilitation, transition planning, design and facilitation of decision-making processes.
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