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Difficult conversations are something that we\u2019ve had to have a lot of over the past four years. But just when it feels like you can\u2019t even listen to someone who believes differently than you anymore, in walks someone like Kern Beare to help you realize maybe we aren\u2019t so divided after all.\xa0\nOn this episode of The Sidewalk Talk podcast, Traci talks with Kern, author and creator of the Difficult Conversations Project, all about how to have those difficult conversations in light of everything we\u2019ve been through in the past four years, and really, the past few months as well. Difficult Conversations Project was birthed out of the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election when Kern, along with one of his sons, decided to travel the country on a \u201clistening tour,\u201d setting up conversations with a variety of people with a diverse set of belief systems to try to understand how our country could have come to this place of division and hatred.\xa0\nIn this conversation, Traci and Kern discuss what he learned on that first tour that sparked the creation of Difficult Conversations, how to listen without the need to be right, the push and pull between love of neighbor and the fight for justice, and how we reconcile our capitalist system with a belief that people should always be put first. Whether you\u2019ve had a difficult conversation lately or you\u2019re looking to have these types of conversations better in the future, this podcast episode is for you!\xa0\n\xa0\nEpisode Milestones\n[00:07] Intro\xa0\n[00:58] Meet Kern\xa0\n[07:41] How the 2016 presidential election birthed the Difficult Conversations Project\xa0\xa0\n[15:02] Listening without needing to be right\xa0\n[20:39] The dichotomy between love and justice\xa0\n[27:54] Kern\u2019s thoughts on the 2020 presidential election\xa0\n[31:48] Capitalism versus a people-first approach\xa0\n[36:52] Kern\u2019s word for you\xa0\n[39:29] Outro\xa0\n\xa0\nResources Mentioned\nDifficult Conversations Project\xa0\nDifficult Conversations: The art and science of working together\n\xa0\nStandout Quotes from the Episode\n\u201cThe intention of life is to be loving, totally loving. And to be totally loving we have to deal with the parts of ourselves that get in the way of being totally loving.\u201d\u2014Kern Beare\xa0\n\u201cThe fundamental problem is a lack of relationship and a lack of connection. I saw the ability to engage in difficult conversations as a process for healing that disconnection.\u201d \u2014Kern Beare\xa0\n\u201cDifficult conversations trigger our flight, flee, freeze survival drive.\u201d \u2014Kern Beare\xa0\n\u201cA window\u2019s been opened up, that if we don\u2019t take advantage of, we\u2019re going to really regret it. And we need to do more to reach out to one another, to connect with each other. We can\u2019t think that, oh now we can relax.\u201d \u2014Kern Beare\xa0\n\u201cWe are fully capable of meeting the moment. And I think we need to have faith in ourselves to meet this moment.\u201d \u2014Kern Bearne\xa0\n\xa0\nConnect:\nFind | Sidewalk Talk Podcast\nAt sidewalk-talk.org\nOn Instagram: @sidewalktalkorg\nOn Twitter: @sidewalktalkorg\n\xa0\nFind | Traci Ruble\nAt Traciruble.com\nOn Instagram: @TraciRubleMFT\nOn Twitter: @TraciRubleMFT\nOn Facebook: @TraciRubleMFT