Connect & Create Meaningful Experiences
Here we share old and new inspiration to encourage connection and to fuel interesting conversations (other than talking about work and career!) with others over the holidays.
1. Get inspired. See humanity from your left hemisphere, and there imagine and be a part of a better world. This is an oldie, but it’s such a goodie. I rewatched this recently, and it brings me to tears each time and puts me into a different space. Hear Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor and her stroke of insight to make you newly wonder about what can be created in our world.
2. Get motivated. Listen to this podcast series from the House of Beautiful Business on transforming the state of the world, and ourselves, through more conscious relationships.
3. Prepare to gather. Refocus on connection as you plan to gather with family and friends. Hear the importance of The Art of Gathering from Priya Parker.
4. Show up with interesting questions! This holiday have better conversations. Use these On Being guides.
5. Or try these fun prompts. Have playful conversations that help you better understand family and friends with the Proust Questionnaire.
6. Or try these to know those you love. Fall in love with everyone at the gathering with these questions.
7. Or ask people to share a story. Thank you to Jenny Blake for recommending, “Storyworthy” by Matthew Dicks, as it’s been a welcome read. One of the things I love most is the practice he recommends called Homework for Life where you chronicle a story from each day of your life. To capture story ideas, he decided to ask himself: “If I had to tell a story from today—a five-minute story onstage about something that took place over the course of this day—what would it be? As benign and boring and inconsequential as it might seem, what was the most storyworthy moment from my day?”
What I love about this prompt, is that it could have so many benefits:
Getting us to pause and reflect and raise our attention
Seeing threads that show up over time
Really taking in moments to help build resilience, as Dr. Rick Hanson notes in his research
Turning it into a gratitude practice
Identifying stories to tell about yourself to help build your sense of identity
Finding meaning in our days—from what might seem mundane yet is meaningful to the wondrous
Helping you slow down time by acknowledging each day
... And, what if this holiday you had this as a conversation starter for any event. Ask people: What was the most storyworthy moment from your day? Something interesting or where you had an ah-ha and a shift in mindset? Or, a moment that caught your attention and made you pause?
8. Experience the reward of being present: What it looks like when we get present and stay in the moment.
9. And beyond your loved ones, a reminder that kindness exists and can be given. In the spirit of the holiday, everyone wins with kindness.