10.8.10

Voices in the Night

I do enjoy the conversations.  The give and take.  The theories put forth.  The ideas presented.  Conversation is a lost art, and it is something few people seem able to engage in on any kind of meaningful level.  It impresses me to no end when someone can articulate what they feel and how they view things.  I don't need to agree.  I don't need to feel comfortable.  All I need to do is listen and be thankful that for some the ability to converse is not even close to being dead.

My words have offended people.  (Let's not even get into the writing.)  It is the risk you take when you hold an honest conversation.  Some people get that.  Some people don't.  I tend to think that the more intelligent a person is the less likely they will be offended.  What is more worrisome than offenses, however, is that fewer and fewer people seem able to articulate their feelings and views.  Instead, they describe them in the most basic terms, repeating what they have heard on television.  Proving they have given little thought to the things that drive them on a daily basis.

Finding people who have engaged in extensive, honest introspection is akin to finding the Lost Ark.  They are few and far between. That moment where you realize you are conversing with someone on a level few people ever get to see (and if they did they wouldn't understand it or even realize it) -- that is magic.

If you don't buy that, try it.  Find someone you can hold a real conversation with and then find someone who can't describe even their most basic feelings and desires.  If you don't see the difference you are obviously deluding yourself.

It is rare.  It is magic.  It should be cherished.  To handle it any other way is to squander it.  Conversation is one of those things that make us human, and from what I've seen, there aren't many of us left.

2 comments:

DRJ said...

my conversations with you and lex are probably the best conversations that i have, though they often remind me of how much i've lost my gift of words. i've never been much of a talker anyway...prefer to write so i can sort thru my thoughts but having a good talk with someone really does something for my soul...especially when the conversation is off the beaten path...topics that people don't typically discuss. i also have good conversations with watson (when we aren't arguing) and laurel (when we're one on one).
but sometimes, sometimes it's just cool to listen to someone talk.

-Doug Brunell (America's Favorite Son) said...

Agreed. Though some days I'd like to sew my mouth shut.