Why I Organize Informal Gatherings
The idea is to see those we like and miss as often as possible. We love to see multiple friends but have only one weekend a month for which we can plan a bit ahead, so one solution is to bring everyone together, even if they do not know each other yet, and the group tends to be always different, which makes it more interesting.
Why at home? It is not easy to find a suitable place for a croud to talk. Cafes and restaurants have many restrictions on tables, noice, open times, and can be loud and expensive for some. By chance, moving back to San Diego County, we found a place with a nicely divided living spaces.
Why discussing serious topics? The current format arose from a mix of experiences with more formal secular gatherings, fun parties, fruit sharing, and meetings with three local intellectual discussion groups. Despite not having all qualities for being a good host, I dared to organize events for friends, humanists, filmmakers, fruitarians, vegans, artists, and a couple of times for a local conversational group. I am not an entertainer by nature, I just think that letting people experience each other in a free and safe setting is well worth my time. Even if I fail here and there, being together can be so beautiful.
I enjoy a good discussion a lot. I grew up in a subculture where people visited each other regularly in small and bigger groups and had candid conversations. My parent's friends' children and I were largely nurtured by the ideas from the ongoing philosophical debates, with all paradoxes and character knowledge they tend to reveal. In some way, I want to integrate the best styles of experiencing each other from Europe into my different culture here, and maybe you might like it.
Please share your view of the world, influence the flow of conversations, and, if needed, adjust it to your moral convictions with persuasion. Please stay concise and ready for an opposing argument. When free-minded personalities interact, "magic" happens, so do co-create our reality.
