Expansive Conversations is a chance to connect with the NYC Interintellect community, share ideas and inspiration, and expand your creative practice. Hosted by poet, workshop facilitator, and meditation teacher, Grace Bialecki.
There is such a thing as a life changing conversation. One that keeps reverberating with ideas and inspiration rippling through your body long after you’ve stopped talking. Often, these conversations come from unexpected places — a walk with a friend, an article in an old magazine, a book you never planned to read. In this monthly IRL series, we’ll gather to read and discuss essays on aesthetics, creativity, and the artistic process. Through our conversations, we’ll explore bringing their ideas and new creative practices into our daily lives.
This free, members-only series is hosted by writer, workshop facilitator, and meditation teacher, Grace Bialecki. For more of her work, visit her website or find her on Twitter and TikTok.
Runs in New York City on the third Thursday of each month from 6:30-8:00 PM
Already have a membership? Sign in to get your series ticket!
In addition to series tickets, you will get access to our community Discord (with a channel for this series to chat between events)—as well as free salon tickets each month, discounts, free members-only events, and more.
Date Episode December 21, 2023 New York IRL: Expansive Conversations – A Holiday Gathering
In this holiday edition, we’ll read poetry centered around winter celebrations and talk about what holiday traditions mean to us.January 18, 2024 January: Becoming
As we start a new year, we’ll explore how to find the balance between authenticity and self-actualization. We’ll read the poem “The Journey” by Mary Oliver and discuss how to not get lost in the “flood of becoming.February 15, 2024 February: Getting Quiet
What does it mean to listen to ourselves? And how can we find moments of quiet amidst this city that never sleeps? We’ll read Pico Iyer’s essay, “The Joy of Quiet” and explore how to bring stillness into our daily lives.March 21, 2024 March: Sowing Seeds
Tending a garden is a way of cultivating hope and creating our own version of the world we want to live in. We’ll read excerpts from Ross Gay and Aimee Nezhukumatahill’s “Letters from Two Gardens” and talk about their practice and our own plants.April 25, 2024 April: Beginner’s Mind
How do you move through the world? And is there a way to see our daily routine with new eyes? This month, we’ll explore the concept of “beginner’s mind” by reading an excerpt from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet.May 16, 2024 May: Everyday Delight
How can we find joy in daily life? Is there a practice to slowing down and noticing or does the joy simply spring from outside of us. At this month’s gathering, we’ll discuss tiny joys in our lives and read from Ross Gay’s Book of Delights where he compiles a year’s worth of essays on this very subject.June 20, 2024 June: New York State of Mind
How does the city we live in shape us a people and artists? We’ll read poems about one writer’s arrival to the New York City of the seventies and discuss how we navigate the five boroughs. As the saying goes, “New York may be a crazy city, but you’ll never die of boredom. Enjoy!”
Already have a membership? Sign in to get your series ticket!