Stories of Conflict & Community ?????

Hi Everyone,

This week’s newsletter highlights some of my reflections on how we move a conversation forward during a time filled with so much hate and violence. I hope these stories below move you as much as they inspired me.?

? A story I told

Last week, I shared an article that focused on how to move conversation forward amidst a swirl of hate. The article begins with words that became my family’s mantra: “Your freedom ends where the other person’s discomfort begins.” It became a guide for how we talk to one another, when it was ok to touch someone else and when it was not — any situation where there were different points of view, different emotions, different stories. The other person’s “no” was to be respected at all times; their discomfort inviolable, whatever its root cause.

You can view the full article, and the places this story took me here .?

? A story that inspired me

This week, I want to highlight an incredibly inspiring family that continues to move me every day.? Kamal Al-Mashharawi, who is a Palestinian lawyer, was highlighted in this piece in the New Yorker,? One Family’s Perilous Escape from Gaza City . When Israel invaded Kamal Al-Mashharawis neighborhood, he crowded into a basement with his extended family. “The world is closing in on us,” he wrote on WhatsApp. The story follows the WhatsApp messages between Kamal and journalist, Adam Rasgon, as Kamal and his family try to escape Gaza to safety. Kamal later also wrote this piece in the New York Times, called, “I Can Help Rebuild Gaza. First I Need to Survive Today. ”?

There, Kamal writes:

It’s going to take so much time to rebuild everything. But the devastation I see is not just about reconstructing those pieces of concrete. It’s about the stories behind those walls and houses. We need to restore those lives, those stories, too. And for that we need people to care about those stories — the very sort of connections I’ve made in my experiences with conflict resolution.

I think we can rebuild, even if it takes 50 or 60 years. We can find global interest in reinvesting in projects affected or damaged by the war. We need peace. Whatever the war does to this beautiful place, we will fix it. When I return, I will work to fix it.

Kamal and his family were able to leave Gaza and have temporarily relocated to New York City. He has been deeply involved in peace-building, fundraising, conflict resolution, and community support —and remains committed to building a better future for Palestinians and Israelis.

? A storytelling tip

?? Today’s tip focuses on how other sharing and telling stories affect us inside our bodies.

Did you know that if you’ve experienced the magic of someone else’s story igniting something in you, inspiring you to dream or create, then you already know the power of storytelling? We’ve been using stories to connect with each other for as long as we’ve had human language.?

When we share and tell stories, three things happen simultaneously: our memories surface, our emotions come alive, and we are called to action. This process is called mental mirroring.

You can view this short clip to understand more about mental mirroring and what happens when we share and tell stories.?

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