S P A C E | Exchange, cross-pollination, meaningful conversation

Everyone wants to be seen, heard, valued, and connect. Sometimes, though, the boundaries between where this kind of connecting is appropriate, and where it isn’t, I feel, are getting blurred.

I like to keep things really private and personal, if they are private and personal. I don’t want to overshare and I don’t want people to overshare with me, without invitation. Such conversations can only happen, for me, when all the right things are in place.

Real conversation, real connection, authentic relating: these things don’t come in an instant. An acquaintance told me sometimes I can just ‘talk to a stranger about anything and get it all out’, that I can ‘just say whatever and feel better afterwards.’ I said, ‘No. I don’t do that.’ Such personal sharing is reserved, for me.

Might explain why I do not use social media, or have a smartphone: I guard my time. Especially because of the pandemic, when I was ‘stuck’ in Viet Nam for 20 months. [deleted] Lands on the moon, et al. I have a few true friends: this is lovely. [deleted]… Despite all the laying low and not-sharing, still, and all, there comes a time to open up. Again. Too.

Coming out of the other side of a tunnel may be a time to jump-start new things. I’m introducing myself again to a few, going out into the world, ‘greeting the world,’ et al, as we talked about on the podcast episode “Certainty.”

So refreshing to do this. Also: I’m seeing that this helps for a lot of other things, too. Efficiency, the best use of one’s time. I am reappropriating and reallocating where I give my best attention, and time, and energy, so that the things that matter will get done incrementally. Now that I have decided what those things, exactly, are. It’s good. A good moment.

 

Work | How to make time to listen to each other

‘Leaders could save themselves a huge amount of employee stress and subsequent burnout, if they were just better at asking people what they need… Employees may not have the perfect silver-bullet solution, but they can most certainly tell us what isn’t working — and that is often the most invaluable data.’

Source: https://hbr.org/2019/12/burnout-is-about-your-workplace-not-your-people