Levitation by dialogue

I was pleasantly surprised at the number of people who want to stay in the loop for our dialogue emails. With the smaller group we now have, we may be able to lift the dialogue to new heights. Here are some ideas to add to the Good Question and Creative Writing options you already know about.

First and foremost, and very much related to building group genius, we can help keep each other’s spirits up. The isolation we will experience because of the pandemic is a bit like solitary confinement in prison, so we must fight back. Here are a couple of ways to do that.

1. The Johns Hopkins Medical Center has an empathic listening hotline for its medical professionals. The program is called RISE (Response in Stressful Events), and the idea is quite simple. Any medical professional experiencing exceptional stress can call the hotline and within 30 minutes, a medical colleague will be back in touch as an empathic listener. That is the only responsibility of the responder: To listen with empathy, not to make suggestions or provide other kinds of solutions. We can set up our own RISE program within the dialogue network. My telephone number is 403-282-4931 and my mobile phone 403-200-2261. If you want to serve on our RISE team as a good listener, you can share your phone number. Please note that I will sometimes have my own phone off the hook to get some sleep or to focus on some task, so it’s a good idea if we can get one or two others on the team. If you are experiencing stress or low spirits and can’t reach me, just send me an email with the number for me to call you and I’ll do my best to be a good listener as soon as possible.

2. Share links to good comedy videos and good music videos that you think might really make us laugh or otherwise lift our spirits.

3. A website to keep an eye on is this one https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/

Good News, Inspiring, Positive Stories - Good News Network

The #1 source for good news! For 20 years, our positive news from around the world has uplifted and inspired millions to become more optimistic.

www.goodnewsnetwork.org

that specializes in good news. Any website would inform you (for example) if a vaccine for COVID-19 becomes available, but this one is likely to tell you about small positive steps amid the pandemic that might not appear on other websites.

4. Share with us other ideas you may have for keeping spirits up, such as group walks out of doors. We would have to keep our distance as we walk, but the outdoor air and the exercise and being able to talk person to person should be a great way to fight back against the blues.

Toot sweet,

Arthur