DiaPraxis

Awakening the Spirit of

Practical
     Creative
           Effective

Collaboration

The Story of Our Name


I originally considered naming this website "PracticalDialogue.com", as that is how I've been describing my work of helping groups arrive at truly effective and creative responses to practical and systemic challenges.

As my husband and I explored some variations on the name (dialogue or dialog? .com or .net?) the word DiaPraxis came to mind, in honor of Paulo Freire, one of my first teachers.

We had never heard the word before, but when we checked with Google, we were both surprised and delighted to discover that the word "diapraxis" had already been coined by theologian Lissa Rassmussen to describe "a contextual approach to dialogue, where people meet to reveal and transform their shared reality."

Building on her work, here are my own meanings of the word:

dia * praxis :  1.  the practical reality of living and working together, leveraging our differences as a creative resource for shared understanding and effective action on matters of common concern.
                    2.  the kind of practical and open-ended conversation that effectively creates and supports this reality.

At this point, the word "diapraxis" is primarily used in interfaith circles, to describe the work of developing mutual appreciation among people of different faiths by working together on common projects, usually humanitarian community development efforts of various kinds.

As part of our family tradition of tithing, we are committed to donating a portion of the income from this business to interfaith humanitarian efforts.