A Commitment to Conversation

I’ve been focused over the past few years on more proactively initiating conversation with strangers…for no other reason than just to listen, to learn, to connect.

While conversation itself comes naturally to me, I haven’t always been the first to strike it up.

One of my favorite aspects of traveling abroad this past winter, was the culture of conversation that exists at hostels. In the hostel environment, everyone is eager and open to connecting. People are excited to engage with those they don’t know. I’ve found this culture in other places too — at Burning Man, at music festivals, out in the wilderness.

While I’ve been told that this culture of conversation was once universal, it certainly doesn’t feel that way any more. It’s become uncommon to engage with strangers on city streets, and the idea of striking up conversation on the NYC Subway or DC Metro is practically unheard of.

The devices that have entered our lives through our hands and our ears are a clear culprit of this social transformation. It is a transformation though that I worry is accelerating through the COVID pandemic.

People have become hesitant to even approach one another, yet alone converse. And while masks may be slowing the spread of this virus, they are dehumanizing each of us along the way. Unable to pick up on the micro-expressions that allow us to generate trust, we are left less connected to those who we encounter.

There are only two ways that humans interact- by talking and by fighting.

The only way to reverse our collective migration away from the former will be for us each to commit to conversation in our personal lives.

Photo: Taken in Morocco

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