I find Living room conversation a very useful tool for talking about sensitive issues in a safe space. There are times when I have wanted to have a conversation about not so easy topics with friends, but knowing how it might go wrong, I have avoided. But living room conversation was a very useful tool to speak about such sensitive topics.
I must say that living room conversation might not work for everyone, as it did not work for some of our group members. And the key is to abide by the rules. Despite the sensitive nature of our topic, we were able to have a very meaningful conversation where everyone was heard without interruption. While listening to the rules of the conversation, the “be curious” rule was a great reminder for me to listen to others to learn, not only to respond.
In addition to having a healthy conversation, it is very useful to get to know others in a meaningful way. We had the living room conversation with Weiru, Vanina, Laura and Mary after spending 2 weeks, but I felt that I got to know them so much more in a 45 minutes conversation.
