Do you remember when social engagement was as easy as just ‘hanging out’ with friends – and was a preferred, prime-time activity? We can probably all recall good-time memories of those childhood, and teen-aged, social events. Some of us still engage in enough casual ‘hang-time’ to keep us connected, engaged, and happy. But withdrawal, so […]
More than just listening or receiving messages – truly being heard requires attention, desire, and full, active participation. That seems a lot more like passion than simple, polite duty. And that’s what it takes to listen by heart. In his book (Nudge), Leonard Sweet described an interesting exercise. Let’s try it: Circle the first four […]
Why are the most important words we need to share, sometimes the hardest to find? It’s not because we lack knowledge. The dictionary is just as full of words today as it was last week, or in the last century. In fact, we make up new ones all the time – to fit our growing […]
Sharing our hopes, dreams, brainstorms, observations, light-hearted experience, and humor can be FUN. We are wired for connection. Our joys can, and do, seem to multiply when shared … and our troubles can indeed feel smaller when divided among friends. … But, how do we make real connections? Conversation (verbal, gestured, or written) is the […]
Our volunteer stood silently, facing the class with a military stance: Attention! He avoided eye contact, and put his ‘poker face’ on. He waited. Sixty seconds later he breathed a sigh of relief, smiled, and sat down. I had asked students if it was possible for two people to be in sight of each other, […]
