Please tell me about your pretty day...
A poem and some mind-prompts for your weekend.
In line with our current inquiry into the art of beautiful dialogue and the power of questions, I wanted to invite you to revisit a poem that captures the undertow of our exploration, poetically.
Earlier this week, I invited you to consider your own objectives in conversation. What inspires your questions? What drives you to ask the questions you do? Are you seeking connection, understanding, gossip or something else entirely?
In revisiting the poem below, may it be as an invitation to explore the layers of your own experiences and the spacious possibilities that arise when you engage with curiosity and intention.
For some mond-flower introspection, here are some thought prompts to carry into the weekend:
Thought prompts for some weekend reflection:
If you had to describe your conversational life as a book, what genre would it be?
Are there any themes within your dialogue exchanges that keep popping up that feel a small, tired, uncreative or beige?
When you dive into a conversation, what’s your objective? Are you hoping to connect, understand, share a laugh, gossip or discover? Is it an amalgamation of a few things and if yes, what are they?
What drives a person to gossip? Is it a search for connection, a desire for validation, or something deeper that speaks to personal experiences and insecurities? How do you feel when someone is steering a conversation into themes that are all about other people? How do you feel when you steer conversation into a direction of gossip?
Think back to a time when a simple question turned into a great conversation. What did you ask, and why do you think it opened up a conversation in such a beautiful way?
In what ways do the people and environments around you influence the nature of your conversations? Consider both the positive and negative aspects of your current surroundings—what elements contribute to spacious and creative dialogue, and what might be holding it back? How can you actively reshape your environment or approach more expansive and meaningful exchanges?
In what moments/environments do you find yourself feeling most at ease to share openly in conversations? Once you identify such spaces, how can you cultivate a similar environment that encourages others to reveal their true selves as well?
What happens when you take a moment to think about your intentions before diving into a conversation? What do you notice?
What experiences or stories from your life have shaped how you approach conversations? How do they influence the kinds of questions you ask?
If you could ask your friends or family one question to act as a catalyst to a deeper discussion, what would it be? What are you really curious to explore with others?
How do you want people to feel after they’ve had a conversation with you?
Read and get up to date on the inquiry at hand with the below bodies of work:
Thank you for being here. Paid subscriptions allow me to keep writing these love-letters. Choosing to sow into ‘Catching Shower Flowers’ as a paid subscriber is a generous acknowledgment that you value what you read here, that you are not just an audience to the work, but a contributor to the unfolding of it. Thank you for the opportunity to push my limits and find the words begging to be found, just beneath the words on top. I am so grateful for this opportunity, one that I don’t hold lightly.
Love Tess
xo