The One Conversation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the interviews I've been blessed to have with Oprah, we seem to enter what I would call the "One Conversation," the one ongoing story of how we spend\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2012\/01\/19\/the-one-conversation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The One Conversation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the interviews I've been blessed to have with Oprah, we seem to enter what I would call the "One Conversation," the one ongoing story of how we spend\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2012\/01\/19\/the-one-conversation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Field Notes on Living\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MarkNepo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-01-19T20:59:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/files\/2012\/01\/210215953_333_detail-300x169.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Nepo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@marknepo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Nepo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2012\/01\/19\/the-one-conversation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2012\/01\/19\/the-one-conversation\/\",\"name\":\"The One Conversation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-01-19T20:59:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-01-19T20:59:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/#\/schema\/person\/8dd9a050df7e544bc3c7dc9a587321d5\"},\"description\":\"In the interviews I've been blessed to have with Oprah, we seem to enter what I would call the \\\"One Conversation,\\\" the one ongoing story of how we spend\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2012\/01\/19\/the-one-conversation\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2012\/01\/19\/the-one-conversation\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2012\/01\/19\/the-one-conversation\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The One Conversation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/\",\"name\":\"Field Notes on Living\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/#\/schema\/person\/8dd9a050df7e544bc3c7dc9a587321d5\",\"name\":\"Mark Nepo\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f01b382981d0a1914ee5686c03225bdb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f01b382981d0a1914ee5686c03225bdb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark Nepo\"},\"description\":\"Mark Nepo is a poet and spiritual teacher who has taught in the fields of poetry and spirituality for over 50 years. 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{"id":1468,"date":"2012-01-19T15:59:39","date_gmt":"2012-01-19T20:59:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/?p=1468"},"modified":"2012-01-19T15:59:39","modified_gmt":"2012-01-19T20:59:39","slug":"the-one-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2012\/01\/19\/the-one-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"The One Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a>In the interviews I\u2019ve been blessed to have with Oprah, we seem to enter what I would call the \u201cOne Conversation,\u201d the one ongoing story of how we spend our time on earth. All our lives contribute to this conversation. All our stories contribute to the one ongoing story. Let me share some reflections on where that conversation has been taking me.<\/p>\n

I keep returning to the ever-present riddle, that being who we are is the necessary adventure. It unlocks everything, not because our self is so important but because our essential nature that our self carries is the immediate doorway to everything that is life-sustaining. We learn early on that being who we are means fending off unwanted influence without cutting ourselves off from the chance to learn from others. Regardless of the culture we are born into, it isn\u2019t long after we arrive that everyone starts pointing and telling us where we need to be and what we need to do to get there. There\u2019s no time to really ask why. Soon, things happen and we are thrown off course and now there\u2019s all this effort to win their approval, no matter who \u201cthey\u201d are. If lucky, love will distract us more than suffering. If blessed, we are broken of everyone\u2019s plans and regrets and thrown like a hooded bird into a sea of light. If trusting the fall, we find our wings.<\/p>\n

Read the rest of this post. <\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"