Communicating
Do you ever notice the difference in how you feel when you: 1) make friendly small talk with an acquaintance, 2) have a lively two-way conversation with a friend, or 3) bare your soul with someone you trust?
For me, friendly small talk is pleasant and may even be cheery, but usually lacks deeper feelings of human satisfaction. The sense I get from friendly small talk is that I’ve skated the surface of the waters of humanity, perhaps even stuck in one toe.
A lively two way conversation, for me, is more stimulating and energizing. I may learn something from this communication, or may convey something that another didn’t know. While energizing, this level of communication is still shallow, more like sticking my feet in the water and kicking a few times.
But for real satisfaction, nothing beats the conversations that are soul to soul. When I discuss something that really means something to me–how I feel about something of importance, what I believe in, what has happened to me and how I felt about it–these experiences where I open my shields and expose the vulnerability of my fears and joys, these are like diving in and swimming underwater. This is when I really experience the depth of human emotion.
Though sometimes scary, soul baring communication is so satisfying, so calming, so loving, as to make the risk worthwhile. The older I get, the more willing I am to take the risk of vulnerability.