{"id":164230,"date":"2024-05-16T12:40:03","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T19:40:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/livingroomconversations.org\/?post_type=case_studies&p=164230"},"modified":"2024-05-16T12:40:03","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T19:40:03","slug":"a-novel-experience-zebulon-ga","status":"publish","type":"case_studies","link":"https:\/\/livingroomconversations.org\/case_studies\/a-novel-experience-zebulon-ga\/","title":{"rendered":"A Novel Experience: Zebulon, GA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Living Room Conversations in One Word: \u201cJoy\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A Novel Experience, Zebulon, GA\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Written April 2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur first purpose was to increase togetherness and tolerance, <\/span><\/i>and from that, of course, we hope it will influence loyalty and <\/span><\/i>business. Plus, we were flat-out curious to see what would <\/span><\/i>happen.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

– Christine \u2018Chris\u2019 Curry, co-owner, A Novel Experience<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For the 1,200 residents of rural Zebulon, GA, <\/span>A Novel Experience<\/b> bookstore <\/span>has long been a landmark, community hub, and, as <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>one customer described it, \u201ca port in the storm.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>With its central location near the historic Pike County Courthouse <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and its policy that \u201c<\/span>anyone can join <\/span>any <\/span><\/i>conversation,\u201d A Novel <\/span>Experience is the perfect host for a participatory, cross-partisan activity like Living Room Conversations. A\u00a0Novel Experience\u2019s co-owners Christine \u2018Chris\u2019 Curry and Karen Lacey have a long-standing commitment to the community and have played host to an annual photography exhibit, art shows, and four active book\u00a0clubs. The book clubs help reinforce the small business\u2019s inclusive vibe. From <\/span>Drop-in, Guilt-free Book\u00a0Club<\/span><\/i>, to the <\/span>Brown Bag Book Club, <\/span><\/i>to <\/span>Classics Book Club<\/span><\/i>, to <\/span>The Nerd Herd, <\/span><\/i>there is something for everyone at A Novel Experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Likewise, the bookstore\u2019s approach to Living Room Conversations has emphasized engagement and\u00a0inclusiveness. Since 2018, A Novel Experience has set aside the last Sunday of each month, at 3 pm, for a\u00a0group of stalwart Living Room Conversationalists. Ten to thirteen participants have explored topics\u00a0ranging from <\/span>Guns & Responsibility <\/span>to the <\/span>Race Series<\/span>. Chris shares the connection she sees between a\u00a0bookstore and Living Room Conversations: \u201cWe\u2019re readers and we value community and Living Room\u00a0Conversations brings us together. Anyone can join any conversation. This is what we want to encourage.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Chris discovered Living Room Conversations in the independent bookstore blog, <\/span>Shelf Awareness<\/span>, and became intrigued by its potential as a tool for marketing <\/span>and <\/span><\/i>mission. She found herself on the Living\u00a0Room Conversations website, quickly downloaded the guide, and within a month, she\u2019d hosted her first conversation. Conversations tend to run about one hour and fifteen minutes, with the Living Room\u00a0Conversations structure and agreements both followed and appreciated. Post-conversation refreshments\u00a0offer an intentional social time to wind down and close each Living Room Conversation. Chris <\/span>describes, <\/span>\u201c<\/span>walking away just exhilarated and laughing. It felt like fun. People brought food so they ate and just<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>talked at the end, not wanting to leave.\u201d Another participant described Living Room Conversations at A Novel Experience with one word: \u201cjoy.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Marketing the Living Room Conversations through the <\/span>A Novel Experience\u2019s online newsletter<\/span>, <\/span>Chris <\/span>then put extra effort into ensuring a mix of people with conservative and liberal views would feel comfortable attending. Her recruitment focused on former military and conservative customers whom she knew would not see Living Room Conversations as an attempt to \u201cconvert them to the liberal agenda.\u201d The communities surrounding A Novel Experience lean heavily Republican and Christian, making opportunities for conversing across different political and religious experiences rare and potentially fraught.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the community\u2019s trust in <\/span>Chris <\/span>encouraged participation. Her agile facilitation coupled with the Living <\/span>Room<\/span> Conversations model and agreements gave the experience structure and safety. As one participant <\/span>suggests<\/span>, \u201c<\/span>I have gotten to know conservative folks and become friends. Though we don’t necessarily agree, I have come to understand their perspectives more, as a result of the Living Room Conversations model and talking about issues together. (In other settings), people know I\u2019m progressive but don’t bring it up or talk about issues because it would be uncomfortable. During a Living Room Conversation, people\u00a0really listen.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Chris\u2019s background as a psychotherapist has helped her to shepherd the group. Her use of <\/span>therapeutic techniques like \u201cmirroring\u201d and \u201cvalidating\u201d <\/span>have proven valuable as conversations surface personal\u00a0experiences and emotions. Participants trust her to follow through on the Living Room Conversations\u2019\u00a0promise <\/span>to <\/span>facilitate connection between people, despite their differences, and even identify areas of common ground and shared understanding. <\/span>One participant described Chris this way, \u201c[She] is accepting of all people, she owns that business, anyone who she comes into contact with, she assumes, is a friend.\u00a0 The woman works hard. She has created an oasis \u2026 a place where I can feel comfortable all the time,\u00a0consistently, and others feel the same way.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lightheartedness and humor, too, are essential tools in Chris\u2019s hosting kit. <\/span>During the first Living Room<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Conversations on Guns and Responsibility, she knew participants from this rural Georgia county were likely to have strong feelings. As they sat down in the bookstore\u2019s comfy seating area, <\/span>Chris <\/span>asked anyone<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>who was \u201ccarrying\u201d to place their guns on the coffee table. Three of the 11 participants took the holstered revolvers out and put them down. After a moment of shocked silence, especially among those who favored more restrictive gun laws, everyone began to laugh. With the tension broken, a respectful conversation ensued. One participant recalled, \u201cLater on, someone said <\/span>he didn’t own or want to own a gun because he knew he had a temper and didn\u2019t trust himself with a gun. A conservative gun owner\u00a0responded, saying he respected that, and \u2018would want to be in a foxhole\u2019 with a careful person like him.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Participants have become <\/span>loyal to the Living Room Conversations group and look forward to it each<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>month. Eighty percent of the group are repeat participants, lending the group the sense that they were growing and improving their Living Room Conversations practice together, over time. Many have found opportunities to practice their listening-to- understand-skills elsewhere: <\/span>\u201cI\u2019m more lenient toward people’s beliefs. I will listen more, whereas before I was quick to judge people who had different beliefs.\u00a0 I\u2019m more interested in people’s backgrounds and stories as reasons for why they believe what they do. It\u00a0has caused me to start asking Living Room Conversations-like questions whereas before I would just start arguing. I want to know the person more before I start debating. I try not to push too many buttons too\u00a0quickly.\u201d <\/span>Both <\/span>Chris <\/span>and the participants are looking to invite younger and more racially diverse participants. Most regulars are over the age of 45. A participant remarked, \u201cThe older folks are curious about younger people’s perspectives.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the meantime, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic closures, the Zebulon group has ventured online. Like many of us, <\/span>Chris <\/span>is eager to return to the pre-COVID face-to-face gatherings; she recognizes the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>online version may have the benefit of achieving more diverse participation or encouraging participants <\/span>to<\/span> try it out virtually before committing to a face-to-face experience.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond individual change and feelings of joy and exhilaration, communities of practice like the one\u00a0growing in Zebulon offer one pathway, not a magic wand, but <\/span>one pathway <\/span><\/i>toward healing and understanding across differences. As society grapples with the harm and violence of systemic racism, with the intransigence of rigid political divides, and with a pandemic disproportionately affecting those\u00a0with the least resources, we find in Zebulon a <\/span>community actively practicing <\/span><\/i>more productive ways to\u00a0engage. Chris describes it this way, \u201c<\/span>We have learned to listen better, listen without anticipating the next thing. The word about Living Room Conversations is getting out: w<\/span>e are giving people a forum to learn\u00a0about other people.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Photo Credit: Facebook- A Novel Experience. (n.d.). https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo\/?fbid=493859596260163&set=a.493859566260166\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cOur first purpose was to increase togetherness and tolerance, and from that, of course, we hope it will influence loyalty and business. Plus, we were flat-out curious to see what would happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

– Christine \u2018Chris\u2019 Curry, co-owner, A Novel Experience\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":164381,"parent":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[121],"tags":[120,122,123,124],"class_list":["post-164230","case_studies","type-case_studies","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-case-study","tag-book-store","tag-family-and-community","tag-georgia","tag-social-connection"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingroomconversations.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case_studies\/164230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingroomconversations.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case_studies"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingroomconversations.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case_studies"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingroomconversations.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/livingroomconversations.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case_studies\/164230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingroomconversations.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingroomconversations.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingroomconversations.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingroomconversations.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}