What is the intention behind your words? Do you speak with the care of a sacred drummer, tuning each beat to the rhythm of your mind and the heart of your listener?

To converse with awareness is to communicate with intention, mindfulness, and clarity. It is not just about what is said, but why it is said, how it is said, and how it lands in the soul of the other. In African wisdom traditions, words are powerful instruments; vehicles of energy, vibration, and spirit. This virtue calls us to engage in dialogue the way a skilled Yoruba drummer plays the Dùndún drum; with presence, precision, and deep attunement. The talking drum mimics the human voice and was used to transmit messages across long distances. Likewise, our speech transmits what is within. Are we conscious of the messages we are sending?

This virtue teaches us to pause and become aware of the many layers at play when we speak; our tone, our emotional state, our intention, and the context. It is a call to practice four levels of awareness: self-awareness (how am I feeling?), audience awareness (who am I speaking to?), situation awareness (what is the context?), and message-awareness (what exactly needs to be said?). When all four are aligned, our words become medicine.

The imbalance shows up in how conflict, misunderstanding, and harm can ripple through our relationships and communities when we speak reactively, harshly, or unconsciously. Personally, it leads to regret, miscommunication, and fractured trust. Collectively, it feeds a culture of gossip, misinformation, online hostility, and emotional disconnection. In today’s world; where attention is scarce and soundbites fly faster than reflection; our failure to converse with awareness contributes to widespread emotional burnout, polarization, and isolation.

The imagery is of a Yoruba drummer, deep in trance, playing the sacred Dùndún drum with golden light illuminating him. His state of awareness is heightened, as he channels messages not just from mind to drum, but from spirit to community. Just like the drum, our words can summon peace or provoke war. Speak, therefore, with reverence.