I Love A Good Conversation

Technology empowers us to communicate with others around the globe in near real time. I may not be able to get together with my friends as often as I'd like, but from the comfort of my couch or an airport gate, I can chat with them via my phone and thumbs. I love technology.

But, I love face-to-face conversations even more. There is no pause while the three little dots blink and the other person types. You can't click over to another app to check in while waiting for a reply. You look at the person, you laugh, scream, wonder all at once, and you never know where the conversation might take you.

Yesterday at work I had several different conversations in my office. Everything from a discussion about a student with a Professor I hadn't met yet, to agreeing to help two budding social entrepreneurs with their project and finally one with another Professor in my department.

That final conversation is the one that made me smile and inspired this post. It all started when they looked at my Death Wish Coffee mug with a curious look. That leads me to telling the story of how I can brew a pot of coffee at night when writing and still go to bed no problem, but that the first time I had a cup of their coffee, my hands were jittery for hours.

That lead to them asking if I was talking about writing blog posts and when I replied about book writing it became apparent they didn't know I had written Content Rules or Amazing Things Will Happen so I gave a little nod up to my bookshelves of the copies in different languages.

From there we found ourselves drifting among a variety of topics that ended with a conversation about how they chose to be at Wheaton and their questions around how friendly people were when they interviewed. It was a great time getting to know each other better.

Conversations don't need a goal or an outcome.

Conversations get away from the emotionless world of text and the imaginary courage that keyboards give some to say things they'd never say to a person standing in front of them.

We need more conversations if we are ever going to fix all the wrong around us. We need more conversations so that we get to know the people around us rather than just the smilelized version they share with the world online.

No matter where you are or what you are doing today, try to have a conversation with someone. It'll make the day a bit better than without it.