The critical challenges we face today are increasingly understood as interrelated and as global, spiritual and material in nature. Climate change and related human activities, including development and human migrations, have created a planetary crisis that no nation or region can solve on its own. We are an Earth community. However, making sense of all this in a time when more powerful tools for communicating and for accessing information are available to more people than ever before is a task both daunting and full of possibility.

In open societies a healthy civic life depends on an informed and engaged citizenry, a citizenry that can see beyond local issues and the ideological polarizations that seek to frame (and limit discussion of) many issues. The more complex the challenges and the greater the stakes, the more important it is that we speak to each other about these concerns. While the freedom to engage in public conversation exists in many countries, its existence doesn't insure that conversation will occur. It requires initiative and intention to plumb deeper meanings and broader connections, and such impetus often rises out of community-based efforts.

One very positive trend in recent years can be seen in the growth of interest in salons, dialogues, multilogues, conversations, circles, cafes, open spaces, chat rooms, Internet forums, and other modes of gathering. People have been drawn more and more to creating ways to meet and explore issues of common interest. While this is not new—from Socrates and Plato, to the women in France who hosted salons beginning in the 17th century, to our contemporary ways of meeting—it seems to be in our nature to seek connection, to want to talk things over and discover meaning.

The character of various types of gatherings over time has reflected the practices and possibilities of their period of history, culture, and the generation initiating them. The last is particularly true now with the explosion of internet-based communications, so natural a part of life for younger generations. Can there be rich conversation over the Internet? Can we meet as souls? I don't know, but I suspect in some way we can. The whole arena of electronic communications and the world's being linked up via the Internet is fascinating—and can possibly become an extended tool of our consciousness. Being over 60, I am aware that younger generations, as a friend used to say, are wired differently and hopefully will realize more expanded and richer uses for the Internet.

In our own time, the lag between the exercise of our wisdom and the exercise of our increasingly powerful communications tools is apparent. This discrepancy in itself can pull us toward seeking more integrative perspectives, and toward creating meaningful contexts in which to engage the present and looming challenges we need to address. So we find ourselves drawn back to the campfire or to the water cooler, to a neighbor's living room or a local café—to spaces that can hold informal, honest and open exchange. In part, in we are looking for some semblance of a community setting and connection, even if it is temporary. In the great religious traditions, one of the common pillars sustaining individuals on their path to spiritual maturity has been the community—as a place for reflection, for testing the authenticity of one's own insights and beliefs, and for confirmation. Today community is not as strong a force as it used to be in any segment of society, but there are signs that it is being sought in various ways.

For the past sixteen years the International Center for Integrative Studies (ICIS) has hosted salons in an effort to provide opportunity to engage critical issues. The interest in salons grew out of a conviction that the complex times in which we live require group endeavor and the cultivation of group wisdom. ICIS salons are composed of informal gatherings of 20 to 35 people from different disciplines and backgrounds. Diversity in background and profession is important. There is usually a mix of new participants with others who come regularly and provide continuity, helping to hold the environment and process of conversation. Salons offer space for authentic exploration, the co-mingling of ideas, and the development of new thinking. They contain elements of an intellectual drawing room and the public square, but more importantly they have been designed to hold a respectful and reflective space and process that are both safe and intensely alive. Salons foster an environment where we can dig deep, take the time to ask questions that often sit on the margins of our awareness, and listen appreciatively to each other and to ourselves. They don't always work. Sometimes the chemistry or setting isn't quite right; but at their best, salons offer the possibility to meet as souls, appreciate others' understandings, and discover new insights.

There doesn't seem to be any one formula for organizing a salon, and some experimentation is good to keep gatherings fresh and creative. A book, a film, a photographic exhibit, or a speaker can be used to introduce a topic. Someone is needed as host to welcome participants and to provide the context, neutral facilitation when needed, and a closing. How much directed guidance a host provides varies with the group, topic and setting. In a brief but rich article on "The Spiritual Practice of Hosting Conversations", Vicki Robin identifies three dimensions of the 'mind of hosting' (Utne Reader, September - October 2004). "The first mind of hosting is listening to what each person says with absolute attention and utter fascination…. The second mind of hosting is listening with attention and fascination to one's own thoughts …. The third mind of hosting is attuning not to self or other, but to the meanings that begin to arise from the rich, bubbling stew of interactions." To the degree we can, these are qualities to be practiced and encouraged not only by hosts but also by all participants.

There are other values and practices that seem common to successful salons and good conversation. Hospitality and creating a welcoming, spiritually quiet environment help people (particularly those coming from the pressures of work) make the transition to a more reflective and open way of interacting—and give our minds an opportunity to become less driven and more alert. Participants are greeted personally, provided refreshments, and given an opportunity to introduce themselves. ICIS salons have been held mostly in private homes, providing an intimate and warm setting.
Salons are conversations among colleagues. Some will have more knowledge, but there are no unquestioned 'experts.' Asking a well-packed, thoughtful question can be a most valuable contribution. So is allowing silence when a conversation reaches a natural pause or the group needs to reconsider its direction, a practice the Quakers have long appreciated. Integrating silence and respectful listening can build trust and encourage participants to speak from both head and heart. Also important is fostering an environment that encourages suspension of judgment and blame, and taking responsibility for one's words, for one's intentions. Much of this is common sense and often practiced without thinking when we sit and talk with a loved one. It takes intention and practice to extend these qualities to a salon conversation, and it is its own reward.

Salons can be held in collaboration with other groups. For example, ICIS has held two salons on An Inquiry into World Citizenship in a Time of Great Integrations and Great Divisions with Nancy Roof in collaboration with Kosmos. This type of cooperative effort can provide more continuity of exploration and extend a greater reach to diverse communities.
For those interested in starting a salon and hosting conversations, you can begin with colleagues, friends and neighbors, but be as inclusive as you can. There are some very helpful resources with guidance about facilitation, hosting, and creating a constructive environment for a salon. Here are a few: Citizen Conversation, Dialogue, Deliberation and Reflection (CCDDR) Program of the Co—Intelligence Institute, www.co-intelligence.org; a discussion of "circles of trust" in A Hidden Wholeness by Parker Palmer; Let's Talk America, co-founded by Vicki Robin, www.letstalkamerica.org; the Study Circle Resource Center, www.studycircles.org; and Socrates Cafes, www. philosopher.org.

There is so much untapped human capacity and creativity all around us. A salon can be a vessel for giving them expression in a community, and for contributing to the emergence of a more whole understanding of the challenges we face.

Laraine M. Mai is widely recognized for her 38 years of service in nonprofit leadership and management, and for her experience as a founder, executive, and consultant in the fields of education, youth services, international issues, and interfaith cooperation. She is President of ICIS and co-founded The Door-A Center of Alternatives, a model multi-service center for adolescents in New York City. In 2002 she launched RiverTides, an ICIS leadership education and consulting services program. She also served as the first Executive Director of the Interfaith Center of New York, and co-founded outstanding leading edge salons in New York City and in the Upper Hudson Valley. www.rivertides.org