The Conflict Lab--DUMBO LOCATION
⏰ Please plan to arrive on time, as doors close approximately 20 minutes after the event begins & take note we'll be at 68 Jay St tonight as the weather reports changed late in our planning of tonight!
The entire world runs on tension. Quite literally. In physics, nothing works without it. It keeps bridges standing and it’s how guitar strings sing. Yet when it comes to human relationships, we’ve convinced ourselves of the opposite. We use nice words like “keeping the peace,” when often, we’re simply avoiding the discomfort conflict evokes.
But challenges don’t go away just because we ignore them. They just change form and/or cause more downstream problems, much like the ones we’re facing now after decades of pretending avoidance worked. Ghosting culture. Echo chambers. Polarization. Passive aggression. Relationships that fracture instead of deepen. All of which brings us to a place where Democracy itself is at stake—not because people disagree, but because they don’t know how to disagree. Or even that it’s ok to.
The truth is, conflict is one of the greatest acts of hope we can offer one another , precisely because it’s challenging. In a world where it’s so easy to move on, having conflict says: 1) I care enough. 2) I believe you care enough. 3) I believe you’re capable of doing this challenging thing
The problem isn’t conflict—it’s that so many of our experiences have been awful and we were never taught to do it well. We never learned how to disagree without becoming defensive, or how to repair after hurt. We also weren’t taught to discern where/when healthy conflict simply isn’t possible.
The Conflict Lab is a place to learn those skills.
MISC.
📍 When we planned this event, rain was in the forecast, so we secured an indoor location. Although the forecast has since cleared, we’ll still be meeting indoors. The address is 68 Jay Street in Dumbo, Suite 713. Hopefully next week’s forecast will make up its mind a little earlier. 😉
⏰ Doors close ~20 minutes after the start time to minimize disruption. Please plan to arrive on time.
📸 We may take photos/video during the event to record the facilitator. If you’d rather not appear in any photos or videos, just let us know when you arrive—we’re happy to accommodate accordingly.