Here's to Hearing Me Out

~ Here we are , sitting across from one another, at lunch. We're talking circles around fires in yards. I was in one of them just now, next to the guy's lawnmower trailer. And tonight, I could visit a place where you and someone you've never met before might sit, side by side, and bounce versions of reality back and forth. Now, here's what I would like for you to do, dear reader(s): please, raise your glass(es) with me. Here's to hoping we'll agree to disagree! Better, let's agree that we may disagree. That is, unless it doesn't come to that.

~ Unfortunately, most of our interaction is in small pieces and it's tough to get past the superficial and into any real depth of meaning or purpose. Tack on the fact that these topics are tough enough to tackle as it is, we may never get to truly know how we feel about all of this! I don't know about other people, but I think we should be talking about it. More often. With different sorts of folks. People you don't know. A stranger that will really listen and think and talk while we're doing the same for them is a good thing to find. It's like having a therapist or a confession booth. It's up to the individual how much they want to spill about their deepest thoughts.

~And who's not terrified of letting someone in?!? At the core of us, when the mind's at its stillest point, things surface about reality that can scare or confuse; but also fascinate. It's important for people to feel accepted, to be understood. Conversations that skirt the far reaches may lead to topics and opinion and hypothesis that some of us are not quite ready to share. And you know why? It could be that gut instinct of being back in school and watching everyone laugh at the kid who said something out of left field. Perhaps it's the memories of times in history when they've locked up, alienated, even put-to-rest, people who were considered non-conformists. Someone who'll agree that it's okay to disagree typically won't judge. They want from us the same sort of understanding.

~It's important that we chat with a variety of people! One's that'll agree, disagree, deny, concede, and/or any combination of these verbs. With a dash of civility, of course. Out of these talks, solution surfaces...

~So let's do each and everyone a favor: let us raise our glass, our cup of coffee, the pint of what-have-you. Shift this snifter of brandy to the toasting hand and clink in the middle, my fellow human being(s), and toast to getting to the bottom of this by engaging in healthy and varied back-and-forth-ing. And let's try to avoid looking down our glasses at one another.