Sunday, January 17, 2010

Blue Chatter and the Occasional Real Conversation



Conversation is a form of communication that is universal. It's how we reach out and connect with other people and how we connect with ourselves. When I need to work things out in my mind I talk to myself. I'll walk around the house carrying on this mini one way conversation with my thoughts and my dreams. They are all there communicating with me even though they can't speak. I take them into my heart and speak for them just as I speak for myself.

Some people like to refer to the "lost art of conversation." This is something that I don't really believe in. Sure speaking face to face may have faded some, and some people have trouble reaching out to others through conversation, but speech is something that will never die out. It's simple and direct. Talking with someone is risky because we could say something that we aren't supposed to. We don't have time to process our next sentence. We have to step out and say what we think and suffer the consequences if it comes out the wrong way. It isn't that we've forgotten how to talk to another person, it's that we're afraid to.

The next section of this post here simply because it fascinates me. I want you to think, just for one moment about all the people you've talked to in your entire life. There's your family members, your friends, your co-workers, your bosses, your teachers, and then there's the occasional stranger who comes into your life for one brief moment to tell you a story. When this happens you listen. And for one shining moment you catch a glimpse into another person's life. You see what they saw, you hear what they heard, and you connect this person's experience with your own. And that,dear reader, is the real power of conversation.

This idea was inspired in part by a fascinating post on the blog "The Fish Bowl: Where Ideas Swim." If you'd like to read about how we think about past,present, and future as well as a few other random but extremely thoughtful insights, check it out. You can find it in my blog roll. Enjoy!

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