No Time to Talk . . . Really?

No Time to Talk

“We are at a crossroads. So many people say they have no time to talk, really talk, but all the time in the world, day and night, to connect. When a moment of boredom arises, we have become accustomed to making it go away by searching for something—sometimes anything—on our phones.”

Maybe, we shouldn’t be so quick to entertain ourselves with technology. We used to do this with conversation.

Many of the best conversations are born out of an awkward silence. A silence that is now under threat. I know that I used to, and still do, like filling up silence with conversation. For me, speech is a process of thought. Yet, I see silence is becoming less awkward. You can lose yourself in your phone and not even notice it now.

We used to lose ourselves in thought. This came about because of boredom. But it is hard to be bored in this day and age where we can be constantly bombarded with images, games, messages, videos, and alerts.

So next time there is an awkward silence, don’t immediately look toward your phone. Let the silence spark a conversation, let it ruminate a thought, and see what comes of it.

Silence can be Golden

“The real emergency may be parents and children not having conversations or sharing a silence between them that gives each the time to bring up a funny story or a troubling thought.”

This is why many families choose to eat dinner together, or to limit screen time. Communication within a family is key. So, find the time to talk. Remove the barriers that make it difficult.

Learn to be Alone with Your Thoughts

Sherry Turkle sums it up this way, “The next step is to take the same moment and respond by searching within ourselves. To do this, we have to cultivate the self as a resource. Beginning with the capacity for solitude.”

She adds, “Technology enchants. It makes us forget what we know about life.”

So, let’s not forget. Let’s talk!