What if the best part of your week was a conversation you almost didn’t have?
Browsing: small talk
In today’s world, where headphones, cellphones and endless scrolling dominate daily life, the simple act of saying “Hi, how are you?” and “Good morning” is long gone. Streets, neighborhoods and stores are busier than ever, yet somehow quieter at the same time. Places that once felt lively now feel like spaces we merely pass through while running errands. Even brief, casual conversations with people we encounter have nearly gone extinct.
Part of learning how to get over my social anxiety was learning that conversations with strangers could be playful, fun and deeply fulfilling at the same time if I was willing to reject some social norms and shift to topics that brought a deeper narrative, such as the ones I asked the first gent.
Needless to say, life moves pretty fast, and you probably are always going to be a little bit tired. It is one of life’s inevitabilities. But everyone goes through it and just because you’re feeling it doesn’t mean you need to share it.
Through this light-hearted discourse, you figure out how much you actually have in common with someone even if it’s over the least important of matters. However, to really make small talk work, it begins with being real.
The holidays are coming, and with them comes good food, less heat and — what I believe is one of the worst possibilities of human interaction — small talk. This year, I propose we all collectively agree to skip it.
