At home, conversations tend to reproduce themselves: the same topics, the same roles played, the same arguments; only minor details vary. So, it’s time to loosen the yoke and freshen up the conversation. Let’s give it some extra air and space to move. Here is how to do that: start a ‘tertulia’!

In a tertulia you come together because you want to share; just that. No arguments, strong opinions or proposals that all have to agree on. Speak for yourself – and leave room for the others to do so too.

In a tertulia there is not a common theme, topic or issue. There is no reason or urgency to sit together, just the desire to meet and share. Each one decides what it is (s)he wants to share and in what form.

In a tertulia all share; so, it’s not the common scene in which the children show the drawings they’ve made and the parents have nothing to share, except some comments, praise and encouragements. In a tertulia, all contribute to the sharing.

A tertulia does not prescribe a specific content or form. Each one is free to choose. Choose something you have not shared before, but have been talking about to yourself for some time. Additionally, dare to choose a form which you rarely use in conversations at home, for example a poem, a design, a song, a gesture, a different voice, a different language, or a flower from the garden. New = new; fresh = fresh.

After everybody has shared, there is time for some reflection, guided by the following questions:

• which creation was a real surprise for you?
• what amazed you or touched you personally?
• if there were a trophy, who would deserve to hold it?

When will there be another tertulia? Fresh air we all need, daily.

 

                                                                                    [Pieter Mostert, 5 April 2020]