Get real at the 13th Youth-Adult Dialogue, which will meet at the Vashon Presbyterian Church from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 6.

We provide a delicious meal to go along with thoughtful conversation. This time organizers want your actions to reflect your concern for the climate by requesting all participants bring a set of dishes, including bowl, plate, mug, eating utensils and cloth napkin. Put it all in a basket with plenty of extras for your friends and come up and join us.   

Throughout the year, we have been exploring the theme of fear. Creative forms of connecting with each other have helped us reflect on our own beliefs and listen to other voices.

Community discussion is an available and necessary form of communication for the times we are facing. For many there was a recent opportunity to listen to the Dalai Lama.  The Dalai Lama encourages us to dialogue. He said this is “the century of dialogue; face the problems with determination, vision and a wider perspective.”  

That is exactly what the facilitators and planners intend for each Youth-Adult Dialogue. We, as a community, need to find ways to disarm the inner voice that responds to the world with anger, jealousy, suspicion and fear. This is what the Dalai Lama calls inner disarmament. Inner disarmament is accomplished through cultivation and education. The Dalai Lama also said we get the most benefit from taking care of others, which will benefit all levels of relationships in our lives, spiraling out from an inner level, family level, community level, cultural level and universal level. From the global to the local, taking actions on behalf of others will benefit us in the long run. And speaking of the long run, don’t forget to have fun.  Youth Adult Dialogues are planned with creativity and fun.  

Dialogues are produced in conjunction with the Vashon Youth Council, Development of Island Teens (DOIT) and the Vashon Island Prevention/Intervention Team with support from the King County Community Organizing Program (KCCOP).

— Hillery Crocker is a community “actionist” who uses a variety of ways to explore and celebrate interconnectedness in the web of life.