i had a good conversation the other night and it made me realize how much i miss them. During your teenage years and into your early 20's in college good conversations are the norm. They seem to just happen at almost any time. Sitting around the cafeteria, late nights in coffee shops or bars, any car ride lasting more than 10 minutes.
God, atoms, sex, parents, the true meaning of cartoons, music; anything and everything could be put out on the table. No judgements, no attempts to persuade, just folks trying to work things out. Using companions as sounding boards.
Somewhere along the path of adulthood people become less and less likely to participate in such conversations. Maybe it's because as people age they become less and less idealistic. Maybe its because people get too bogged down with the daily grind of their adult life. Maybe, but most likely not.
i feel the real reason is because as people age they grow weary of showing their humanness. Adults harbor the delusion that they need to always know everything, need to always be in control. Part of being a human being is not knowing everything (or anything at times). Not always knowing the answer or what's going to happen is what makes us us.
Maybe that's why i enjoy music and art so much. They are a pure outpouring of our humanness. Maybe that's why so many people in their adult years buy significantly less music. Maybe they don't want to be reminded of that human frailty and want to keep up the act that they have it all figured out. Maybe they are afraid to say the wrong thing. There is no wrong thing.
Have a good conversation. Show that human side again. Acknowledge that you don't know everything. Let the world know what you believe.
Like the Red Hot Chili Peppers said "the best that I can ever be is just like you a human being".
1 comment:
i think conversations become scarcer as we age because we become more afraid of analyzing our own lives and place in the world. It becomes hard to truly look into yourself and outward. i know i find it scary to actually think that our species might be on the fasttrack to instinction and by avoiding any sort of serious conversation i can therefore avoid 'reality'. The world becomes too 'real' to discuss and when subjects turn too serious you will always find someone in the group who cracks a quick joke in order to halt the discussion.
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