I have not had many experiences in life where my first conversation with someone was a one-on-one conversation that lasted almost and hour and seemed almost effortless.
The only reason it didn't go on longer was that I had other things on my to do list.
The only real effort was keeping warm as we sat in the Whole Foods with my drinking drip coffee during the conversation.
But even though we were only e-introduced before the conversation it just goes to show how much having shared interests can lead to interesting conversations from the start.
Knowing people who overlap. Having been places that overlap. And both being running, Baltimore, public health, volunteering, and Back on My Feet enthusiasts.
It simply shows the importance of connections. The connecting of dots that I do every day. The connecting of dots between people. All part of a larger pattern of how life fits together.
And it was fun.
If you'd asked me two-thirds of a lifetime ago how important it is to get to know new people this way I would have simply said, "I don't know. I don't think it is important."
But today, the importance of others is more clear to me than ever. I hope it is a lesson that the young man who spoke out in an after mass meeting of families last week at Church can learn some day. He is not alone. There are people like him. There are people who like him. There are people, in fact, who love him and care about him deeply. And someday he will appreciate that he is not an island. I surely appreciate that in ways now that in my teenage, pre-Confirmation angst I never would have recognized.
The only reason it didn't go on longer was that I had other things on my to do list.
The only real effort was keeping warm as we sat in the Whole Foods with my drinking drip coffee during the conversation.
But even though we were only e-introduced before the conversation it just goes to show how much having shared interests can lead to interesting conversations from the start.
Knowing people who overlap. Having been places that overlap. And both being running, Baltimore, public health, volunteering, and Back on My Feet enthusiasts.
It simply shows the importance of connections. The connecting of dots that I do every day. The connecting of dots between people. All part of a larger pattern of how life fits together.
And it was fun.
If you'd asked me two-thirds of a lifetime ago how important it is to get to know new people this way I would have simply said, "I don't know. I don't think it is important."
But today, the importance of others is more clear to me than ever. I hope it is a lesson that the young man who spoke out in an after mass meeting of families last week at Church can learn some day. He is not alone. There are people like him. There are people who like him. There are people, in fact, who love him and care about him deeply. And someday he will appreciate that he is not an island. I surely appreciate that in ways now that in my teenage, pre-Confirmation angst I never would have recognized.
No comments:
Post a Comment