by Christopher Schaefer

Part 1. Conversation

We take a mystery of life for granted, the mystery of conversation. Reflect on how an impression in your consciousness—“the beauty of a San Francisco spring morning with the fog blowing off the Bay”— is translated into concepts and then into audible speech, involving all the complex muscles of the throat and mouth.Your friend hears these words through the membrane of the ear and understands them, internalizes your thought and then speaks. One aspect of the mystery is how we are able to turn consciousness, the non-sensory, into audible speech and visible gesture. Another is how the other is able to take the sounds expressed and make sense of them. A third is how in dialog, in conversation between two or more individuals, something new, an idea, meaning or decision arises.

View the whole article here: Partnerships of Hope - Building Waldorf School Communities-Ch 4- Working Together -C Schaefer