Conversation Recap for December 16, 2007

We tried a new check-in routine, where everyone was asked for a paragraph about what is going on in life—joys, challenges, drains, hopes. We learn a lot about people from a short introduction. Everyone showed up, but we are on different trajectories. At the end of each introduction, the convention is to say, “and I’m in.” What we mean by this: we are fully present, in our discussions here.

We welcomed back a couple of members who were elsewhere for a while, tending other obligations, including the life threatening kind. Man, it is good to say welcome back. And we welcomed a new member to the Conversation.

After the check-in, we talked about some of the issues that came up. One experience many members shared was a child who had the opportunity to go do college, but did not do so or decided to drop out. Message to all kids: Parents feel this, really hard.

For a while we have been planning to see Spike Lee’s When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. We scheduled it so we could see the New Orleans Monologues first. We planned on doing it today, but it will take a little more time than we have this morning. And, it would be good to do it with the author of the New Orleans Monologues, so we can discuss the writing of projects like this.

For your information, When the Levees Broke is a documentary released in late 2006, and its “four acts” run 255 minutes. It won an Emmy for best director, a Peabody award, the Venice film festival Human Rights Network award, and others.