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Blogs by Mala Naidoo
A Friendly Catch-Up 8/16/2017 9:50:14 PM
The writing life is one of quiet solitude if writing in crowded spaces is not conducive to creative thought for some.
While writing fiction might entail living within the confines of one’s imagination, there emerges the gratitude for precious moments spent with close friends and associates who understand the writer’s period of ‘absence’ from the social hub. The art of conversation keeps books alive as stories unfold, are morphed and recreated to generate hours of pleasurable reading.
Precious moments are often a coffee catch up and soulful reconnecting.
Being in the moment, in conversation with the person should be valued for the human contact with authentic people who question nothing and accept everything for the sheer pleasure of personal engagement.
Being in conversation with someone, seeing their joy and fears, hearing their laughter and feeling their moments of distress is priceless – no mobile phone interaction or social media platform can replicate the shared face-to-face rather than face-time interactions. To be able to reach out and touch the hand of someone to console them or share belly-aching laughter is the essence of human communication and interactions.
I recall some years ago being in a restaurant in LA, having an early dinner, after a day of sightseeing, when I noticed a young family, parents and two children at dinner with heads down, eyes glued to the handheld devices they scrolled through as they ate dinner in silence.
While social media has a major role to play in keeping us connected, it should not lead to foregoing of human company or erode the exhilaration of animated or quiet conversation.Emoticons have their time and place but cannot match the mirth on a human face. This makes those in company, particularly the elderly, for whom a virtual world does not equate social engagement, feel ignored or unimportant.
Looking someone in the eye as they speak to you indicates you are responsive to what they are saying- it makes them feel valued that you are attentive.
Going out to coffee or lunch should be valued for the precious connection to the human face, feeling the pulse, as it were, of those in company.
There's always a quotation or two ready to seal the message of the day.
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My idea of good company is the company of clever, well-informed people who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company. ~ Jane Austen
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Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative~ Oscar Wilde
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A single conversation across the table with a wise person is worth a month’s study of books. ~ Chinese Proverb
Are we slipping further and further into an age where the only conversation we might be exposed to will be the dialogue in a novel?
Are you keeping the art of face-to-face conversation alive? Share today what you value the most about conversations with good friends and family or if you have a different view.
