Conflict, conversation, and being uncomfortable, with Amena Chaudhry

I didn't get into this to piss people off. I didn't get into this to build barriers or to make divisions. In fact, the very opposite. I got into this world of politics, marketing -  I developed my membership and I developed this podcast to help people have better conversations, even if they disagreed with each other.

I got into this to build connections, to break down barriers. And also to highlight the fact that, while we're separated, it is a hundred times more difficult to make any progress to move towards a time when the world is a safer place for everybody.  Until we can have these conversations, rather than running for our block buttons, the sooner we can get to that safer world.  And so I wanted to bring Amena Chaudhry onto the podcast again.

Amena has been really vocal on LinkedIn, about her views on the Israel-Gaza crisis. 
And she has faced pushback for it.  I've heard her voice her frustration about how others are handling it and about the atmosphere that is building up, and I wanted to talk about that with her.

But I also wanted to explore how we can make things better.  How we can build the muscles that we need to build in order to become more connected , and not more separated. And we spend some of our conversation talking about that.

We also talk about why the moment that emergency strikes is not the time to build your tough conversation muscles.
The need for a long, medium, and short-term response with the long-term conversation being tied up with intentionally building those muscles.

When you should be blocking people, and when you should be trying to keep your chamber less echoey.

And we discuss how insulating ourselves from other people's fear and grief is separating ourselves from this common experience. And we've been socialized to cut relationships right away instead of engaging with the difference, and trying to preserve those relationships while we do that. 

We touched on how crises like Israel and Gaza are symptoms showing us that there is a deeper problem - Our disconnection. 

And we talk about the importance of understanding the systems that we live within and how that impacts our response to crisis like this.

Things we mentioned:
Amena on LinkedIn
AIR Training: https://facilitatoronfire.net/
Assessment Package: https://linktr.ee/zarafaconsulting (the first link)

Dr. Ahmed Afzaal's Book: https://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Twilight-Meaning-Education-Collapse/dp/166673599X/ref=pd_ci_mcx_mh_mcx_views_0
His website: https://ahmedafzaal.com/

The Wake Up by Michelle M Kim.

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