A Courageous Conversation in Melbourne

that's greater than the sum of its parts...

Hello,

In a recent Instagram message exchange with a friend, a real one, a human one, on the topic of technology and connection, I declared I’m all-in on team human. Seems wild that we even have to qualify anything in this way, but here we are.

I’m all-in on the messy, the awkward, the beautiful, the magical, the profane, profound and the sacred, the felt and the somatic, the sensory, the in-person in real life, doing and being human.

Courageous Conversations are a way stay human and stay connected as we share and celebrate our lived experience. We go all-in on humaning. Sometimes we dive in, other times it’s more of a tentative, toe dipped in first subtle kinda sneak in hoping nobody sees. Either way, we do it together, in community.

I was listening to Krista Tippett talk with John O’Donohue again yesterday. It’s an ‘On Being’ podcast episode titled, ‘The Inner Landscape of Beauty’. I’ve listened to it several times over the past five years as repeated listens reveals layers of deeper truth and even more beauty. The great poets and philosophers, of which John O’Donohue most certainly is one, have a deft ability to make us feel and remember truth, and feel beauty.

Towards the end of the interview, he asks,

“When is the last time you had a great conversation? A conversation which wasn’t just two intersecting monologues… one in which you overheard yourself saying things that you never knew you knew, that you heard yourself receiving from somebody – words that absolutely found places within you that you thought you had lost, and a sense of an event of a conversation that brought the two of you onto a different plane. And then fourthly, a conversation that continues to sing in your mind for weeks afterwards, you know…?”

On June 12th we’ll gather at Gemini in Melbourne for a Courageous Conversation. It’s Gemini season, it’s a couple of days after a full moon. We’ll be exploring, meeting, embracing and sharing parts of ourselves that may have been abandoned, neglected, hidden, hiding. We’ll coax them out gently and welcome them back into the warm embrace of a shared table with friends.

We’ll open our hearts and share what’s tender and true. We’ll notice what that feels like – to be seen, held, honoured. Perhaps we’ll see ourselves and those parts from a different perspective – a new one, a strangely familiar one. We’ll remember that we are greater than the sum of our parts.

I don’t want to give too much away about what happens during these events. Firstly, because we need more mystery in life, uncertainty and curiosity can be exciting as well as terrifying. Secondly, because much of what happens throughout these events is emergent – it’s a co-created experience and so much of what this becomes is influenced by you.

I will share however, that the Negroni is an inspiration for this event. Partly because it’s winter and it’s a perfect winter drink. Also because it’s a suitable metaphor for something being greater than the sum of its parts. Add equal parts Campari, Vermouth and Gin and something magical happens – stirred around a chunky ice cube, a spray of burnt orange peel oil, it’s spiritual. We will weave this metaphor and these ingredients into this event.

If this stirs any interest or curiosity for you, please consider joining us. By the time this message lands tickets will likely be sold out but add your name to the waitlist and who knows, it’s Gemini season, everything is possible.

If you’re not on the waitlist for Courageous Conversations you can join that here, I always post events to this list a few days before making the event public so you can book early.

There will be plenty more events coming up soon, we need these.

I look forward to connecting with you.

Cheers,

Mikey