Critical Conversationsfor Transformation
A visual meditation on the conversations we need to have - both as individuals and societies - to heal from trauma and create genuine transformation. Inspired by solutions journalism and the belief that dialogue is medicine.
Mapping Healing Dialogues
Explore the essential conversations needed for individual and collective transformation
Voices Amplified
Creating space for silenced voices to be heard and valued
foundational levelGenerational Healing
Addressing inherited trauma and breaking cycles of harm
deep levelRepair and Justice
Conversations about accountability, repair, and restorative justice
systemic levelIdentity and Belonging
Exploring authentic identity and creating genuine belonging
personal levelEarth Relationship
Healing our relationship with the natural world
planetary levelEconomic Justice
Reimagining economic systems that serve life rather than extraction
structural levelHealing Methodologies
How we create containers for transformation through intentional dialogue
Circle Practice
Creating sacred containers for difficult conversations
Practice:
Using traditional circle methodology to ensure every voice is heard and honored, with talking pieces and community agreements.
Healing Wisdom:
Circles create equality - no one person dominates, everyone has a chance to speak and listen deeply.
Inspired By:
Indigenous council traditions, restorative justice circles, feminist consciousness-raising groups
Story as Medicine
Using personal narrative to transform individual and collective trauma
Practice:
Sharing stories not for entertainment but for healing - witnessing each other's truth with presence and care.
Healing Wisdom:
Stories help us understand we're not alone in our struggles and that healing is possible.
Inspired By:
Oral tradition, trauma-informed storytelling, digital storytelling for social change
Embodied Conversation
Including the body's wisdom in dialogue and decision-making
Practice:
Paying attention to how conversations feel in our bodies, using movement and breath to process difficult emotions.
Healing Wisdom:
Trauma lives in the body - true transformation requires engaging our full embodied intelligence.
Inspired By:
Somatic therapy, dance/movement therapy, body-based healing practices
Ancestral Futurism
Conversations that connect ancestral wisdom with future possibilities
Practice:
Using both ancient knowledge and visionary imagination to create new possibilities for living.
Healing Wisdom:
Connecting to both roots and possibilities gives us strength and direction for transformation.
Inspired By:
Indigenous futurism, Afrofuturism, speculative fiction, visionary organizing
Principles for Transformation
Guiding values for conversations that create lasting change
Center Those Most Impacted
True transformation happens when those most affected by harm lead the healing process
In Practice:
Follow the leadership of people experiencing the issues firsthand
Go Slow to Go Deep
Surface-level conversations maintain surface-level problems
In Practice:
Create time and space for conversations that reach root causes
Honor All Relations
Healing happens in relationship - with each other, ancestors, and the Earth
In Practice:
Consider the impact of decisions on seven generations forward
Transform Conflict into Connection
Conflict often signals where healing is most needed
In Practice:
Move toward difficulty with curiosity rather than defensiveness
Practice Abundance Thinking
Scarcity thinking keeps us competing instead of collaborating
In Practice:
Assume there's enough - enough time, resources, love, and possibility for everyone
On Dialogue as Medicine
This collage emerged during a time when it felt like we'd forgotten how to talk to each other. Every conversation seemed to end in argument, every difference became a battle line. I started wondering: what would it look like if we approached difficult conversations as opportunities for healing rather than warfare?
The inspiration came from Yes! Magazine's approach to solutions journalism - instead of just documenting problems, they highlighted people creating alternatives. What if we applied that same energy to dialogue? What if we got as creative about healing conversations as we do about harmful ones?
Indigenous wisdom teaches that conflict often signals where healing is most needed. The places we avoid talking about are precisely where transformation wants to happen. But this requires different skills than debate or argument - it requires the capacity to listen for what wants to heal.
The faces in this collage represent all the voices that need to be in the room for true transformation. Not just the loudest or most comfortable voices, but the ones that have been systematically excluded. When we center those most impacted by harm, we create the conditions for solutions that actually work.
This is the work of our time: learning to have conversations that heal rather than harm, that transform rather than just vent. It's not easy work, but it's the only work that leads to the world we actually want to live in.
— On the revolutionary potential of healing dialogue, 2022