CDP Resource: Listening & Learning with "I" Statements

This resource is an accompaniment to our podcast, “I” Statements, where people with different identities come together to share their own beliefs, experiences, and perspectives, demonstrating both the power and the possibility inherent in communicating across difference.

Episode transcript

Episode Overview

In this episode, Jeannie, Owen, and Rachel talk about when they experience connection to themselves and others, and also how some of the messages they’ve received throughout their lives make it challenging to connect.

Discussion Questions

• What helps you feel connected to yourself? Connected to others?
• Which communication skills help you connect with others?
• How do you adjust your communication when connecting with someone new? Someone you’re already connected to?
• How do you adjust your communication when connecting with someone whose social identity differs from your own? Someone who shares your social identity?
• How do you see vulnerability showing up in your relationships with others?

Writing Prompt

In this episode, each person expresses having a complicated experience with their own emotions and learning how to accept and express their feelings over time. How would you describe the relationship between emotions (e.g., being aware of one’s own feelings, expressing one’s emotions and having candid conversations about feelings with others) and authentic connections? How do you think your social identities (e.g., gender, race, socioeconomic status) have shaped the way you experience your emotions?

Related Readings

• How to become a scientist of your own emotions (Suttie, 2019)
• Navigating the coming out conversation —from both sides (Tu & Low, 2020)
• What I learned by learning my family’s recipes in the most trying of times (Tadepalli, 2020)
• Varied friendships make students more tolerant (Johnson, 2019)