Last Monday, I ran the first iteration of one my internship projects. This project is the implementation and light facilitation of small intentional conversations during the weekly Monday night religious life dinners. This project is connected to this year’s theme of Conversations at Marsh Chapel.
When designing topic themes, I had to consider: the questions, the relevance, whether or not it could be interesting and in which ways the topics could be contextualized. Do themes within religious life have some insight to bring to the conversation?
This week, the topic was: Should we be vegetarian?
The questions were designed to inspire personal conversation and invite a multitude of perspectives to share by inviting individuals to share what their experiences with diets and vegetarianism.
I was very nervous going into the evening and was afraid of how the conversations were going to go.
When Brother Larry finished the Chapel announcements and introduced me, I went back to old insights about public speaking I learned last summer as a Boston University student advisor. I am not the best public speaker; I usually shake and tremble and speak too quietly or too quickly or I just sound very awkward.
I managed to fight though the nervousness and introduce the topic and hand out the questions. I heard much discussion and even got to partake in it a little bit myself.
Although there is much tweaking that will need to be done in this project, I am happy with how it started and was inspired by the conversations that ensued. The atmosphere was lighthearted, calm, and conversational.
I am excited to see how the project continues to grow and change! The next topic is: What does Common Ground mean to you?