Conversations. Cliff notes. Clichés.

Right when our conversation was getting really deep, really good, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see a smiling face of a person who handed me a slip of paper and then walked away. I opened the slip to read a cliché ... something about dreaming big, choosing happy, shining bright. It was an art retreat that we were all at ... and I ended up putting that strip of paper down somewhere, collected my train of thought, and got back to continuing my original conversation ...  

In college, I took an upper division writing class where we read many works by Fredrick Nietzsche. It was challenging not only to read the original works but also to write something meaningful every week and present the writings to the entire class. There was one session when a student presented his essay that basically boiled down the reading to this: "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" To which, our professor called foul. He said that he would not permit our papers to present clichés (or highlights from cliff notes) as our arguments. He said we had to work harder, think critically, and open ourselves to being challenged by one another as we presented our original analyses. We were expected to astonish one another.

In this day and age, especially during this political season, clichés abound. Conversations are rare ... conversations that reference rigorously researched data, history, thoughtful analysis, and most of all, imagination.

I'm almost 50 years old. I've already been raised. I've already been brought up. I have developed my point of view. We all have. And no amount of clichés will change that. I keep thinking about what journalist Bob Woodward recently said in an interview ... which is that ... even if no one reads it, it is the journalist's responsibility to keep writing, keep thinking, keep analyzing, and making available to the world, the most rigorously researched thought pieces.

Because when I (with my unique upbringing) find myself in a good conversation with a person (and his/her unique upbringing), it will be our ability to reference such quality thought pieces and to honestly share our unique points of view that help us understand and accept each other better. Astonishing.

 

Comments

[Stephenie Hamen]

Thank you. This post is something that is so needed in this day and age of 7 second videos and 7 second attention spans.

I love quotes - I collect them. Little snippets of great writing that bring me some sense of joy and happiness, and yet... they are lacking. Lacking the depth of the full text, the interpretation of the context from which the quote came. They provide me with a little burst during the day, but that's all they are - little bursts.

We have gotten so busy that the small idea of sitting down and having a meaningful, impactful, passionate conversation seems idyllic. We chat with people about the kids, what happened on Grey's Anatomy this week, or what is going on at work.

That is the depth of conversation. When you have the opportunity to talk with someone and truly connect it is a rare and cherished thing in 2016.

Thank you for sharing this story...