Life continues to slip through my fingers this summer, affording me only infrequent glimpses of those elusive calm and peaceful summer days. Instead, life this summer has been filled with several hurried weekend trips to weddings, reunions, and visits with family. When I AM in town, I am enjoying entertaining guests in my new townhome and eating produce from my garden. There’s nothing better than the taste of fresh veggies I’ve grown with my own hands, in MY OWN dirt.
Meals shared in the company of old and new friends continue to be the highlight of my summer, which causes me to reflect on one of life’s simple pleasures. I have been thinking a lot lately about the art of conversation, about both how much and how little that word can mean.
I have friends whom I have known for years, yet who really don’t know me. Our conversation takes the form of witty banter, full of amusement but lacking in real depth. I have other friends whom I believe are almost incapable of “small talk,” always asking the probing questions and wanting to know how I am doing, really. Every conversation with those friends is like a breath of fresh air – breathing life into an area of my thoughts and fears that I keep hidden from most of the world. Those types of conversation aren’t just filling space, they are meaningful, and often healing. They help us to realize we’re not alone in our fears and our struggles, nor are we alone in our triumphs and joys.
Yet I find that, as refreshing as meaningful conversation is, it occurs much too infrequently for my liking. It seems as though that type of conversation requires space, something we are sorely lacking in our busy lives. It requires that we stop what we’re doing, and focus only on the person we’re with.
So this month I’m trying to focus on creating space – allowing time for good conversation with people that maybe I don’t know all that well, but would like to get to know better. I think it is something that everyone appreciates, but few people are good at initiating. So here’s to trying…
