The following text was submitted by Michael Bridge:

INTEGRATIVE CONVERSATION

A Radical Healing Process

I met the little spider once who owns all the words, all of them. He said he didn*t like what has been done with words so he wanted me to take them all back for him. That was a really stupid thing for me to agree to. How am I going to take back all the words?

As we encounter the child, we encounter the moment. As we encounter the moment, we encounter our own soul. Our relationship with words and with conversation, mediates our reality.

The essential error of civilization is that words are not introduced into the lives of children in a sacred way. Words are not introduced into the life of the moment in a sacred way*so our relationship with our own utterance is wounded. The reality that takes form around our utterance is also wounded. Cancer and war, for example, can only inhabit wounded realities. What lives in our life and in our world, must first live latently in our relationship with our utterance. Changing that relationship, changes everything.

Fold your hands in front of you with the two little fingers pointing upwards to form a steeple. This sign means *pause*. When you need a pause in a conversation, use this sign. Say to your companion, "This sign means *pause*." It may take courage to assert your need, yet the sign itself teaches courage. Using the sign, you will notice an energetic shift in the tonal environment that hosts not only the conversation, but also hosts your entire being. Too much power has been surrendered to word-centeredness. 'Integrative Conversation' is about taking back that power and using it for healing ourselves and our world.

'Integrative Conversation' uses seven simple hand gestures to deepen and expand our idea of what conversation is. The hand gestures challenge word-centeredness by freeing words from the dungeon of the middle. Once words are liberated from the center of things, they fly instantly out to the circumference of things where words are less crowded, less lonely, and much happier anyway*out to dance on the circle of life with every other thing.

When our words are happy, we are happy. This is the truth. When our words are healthy, we are healthy. Ask your words. They will tell you of their power. The hand gestures have been listed by *The Institute for Social Inventions* based in London, England as one of the best and most innovative ideas to appear in the world today. Place no limits on the healing we may accomplish together as we explore this new arena of encounter. I used to think I knew what conversation is. Now I know it is a continent*and we are only anchored off the shore.

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Meeting with individuals and groups*

Michael Bridge 822 Jewell Avenue Sebastopol, California 95472 bmichael@neteze.com (707) 823-7795 see: http://www.co-intelligence.org/P-gestures.html