Last night was the first meeting of Global Voices in Fall, 2014. We had 6 people besides myself. 2 Americans, 1 Scottish-American, 1 German, and 2 Japanese. I discovered that I need to not structure the group too much, and let it evolve and emerge as it will. Last night I had a certain layout in mind, but as the meeting went on things emerged on their own. We had some very insightful discussions about the lyrics of the songs we were singing along with. I think this part was just as important, if not more important, than the singing. This is what develops cross-cultural communication, understanding, respect, and tolerance. Some of the things that came up were not comfortable subjects. Things like religion, optimism, hope vs. hopelessness in today's world, violence and conflict, greed, etc. It was really interesting hearing different perspectives and opinions about these difficult human/world issues. Some of us had very differing perspectives and beliefs, yet we were able to communicate in a respectful, supportive way. That is my greatest goal for GV, to have a space where people feel safe enough to come and share their thoughts and opinions without fear of judgement or rejection. I learned so much last night, especially about the difficulty of optimism in a world constantly plagued by violence and tragic events. I mentioned how I have chosen "hope" instead of "hopelessness." Some of the members felt that they too had hope, but that more often than not, their hopelessness tended to dominate, given the state of our world. But when we discussed the lyrics to John Lennon's "Imagine," it become more evident that it is possible to dream of a better world and work toward that kind of world day by day, person by person. I think we all agreed that it is possible to at least dream about this... And I mentioned the quote - "If you can dream it, you can achieve it." Although, as we discussed, it is unlikely we'll ever have a utopia. There are always good/positive and bad/negative things in every aspect of life and in our world. Even if money wasn't an issue and everyone had what they needed, there would still be power and domination of some people over others. I mentioned the Star Trek universe as an example, but even in Star Trek there are difficulties and wars, etc. I guess true, everlasting peace is not achievable. Another example from Star Trek would be the Q Continuum - they have evolved to a very high state of being, but even they have conflict within their race. Perhaps conflict isn't always bad, since it shows that the diversity of the world will always be there. Diversity is a good thing - and given the human race, we certainly will never all be the same, and we wouldn't want to be. Sometimes conflict arises due to diversity, but it often leads to a better outcome, even if it's difficult in the moment. This makes me think of my Participatory Action Research (PAR) course and the conflict that may arise in the participatory research group. Like marriage, conflict is inevitable, but it can lead to greater understanding, appreciation for different ways of thinking, and cooperation (making sure each person's needs are met). Overall, I think GV is off to a good start and I'm so grateful for this opportunity to facilitate this movement in our community and maybe in a wider scope in the future. Last night I mentioned the starfish story: "It made a difference to that one." :) Peace.
Songs from last night:
"We Are The World"
"Imagine"
