When was the last time you had a great conversation?
An hour ago? A few days ago? Last week? Last month? Or, is not lately more accurate?
How can it be that we live close to family, friends and neighbors, but seem to have a paucity time for companionable contact? Can we be that busy? Do we allow ourselves to be so overwhelmed and over-scheduled by endless lists of duties and activities that we put off until never our friendships?
Well, I confess. Yes, I have allowed myself to be overwhelmed and over-scheduled. The lists of tasks that managed to go undone, despite all of my efforts and planning, grow like weeds on my bureau and desk. Everything takes so much longer than it would if I didn’t get phone calls, emails, or strangers coming to the door. I think to myself, if I just don’t answer the phone, I’ll be able to get out the door and go for a walk; but that seldom, if ever, happens.
Now that I have made my confession, perhaps you have one to make to yourself. Be honest.
Don’t you crave real talk with a real person?
Yesterday, I was fortunate to have a couple of friends drop by. We live all of six blocks from each other, but it has been months since we sat down for a nice cup of tea.
So starved for conversation, were we three, that we fairly tripped over one another. There is so much to say, and we were only too aware that there is little time for giving voice to our thoughts, innermost or outermost. Too many thoughts leave trails that the mind will follow and fix upon. One person will say something to change the direction of the conversation, and who knows if we will return to the place where we have been. Talks like these are uncharted territory; they need to be explored if we are to find that oasis of refreshment and mind expansion that lurks in the shadow of the soulful bond of friendship. Book titles, connections to other people, recipes, philosophies, histories and music become focal point of all our talk and meeting, bringing more to the shared experience than we could have imagined.
We did not nearly have enough time to catch up before my friends had to leave.
And then, there was that list of things that needed to have gotten done in that precious hour and a half, staring me in the face.
Well, who knows any of that will ever get done!
I wouldn’t trade a full day full of accomplishment for that slim, yet cherished, hour of talk with dear friends.
Would you?
