A special place for special conversations
Our lives are becoming ever more hectic and fast paced. This makes it difficult for many of us to take time for conversations with others that are going beyond small talk and have depth and purpose. This applies to both our work environment as well as our private relationships to family, our partner, or our friends. So, what can we do to give more time and purpose to conversations and especially the more difficult ones?
The first thing is to actively recognize that conversations are needed and essential for building and maintaining relationships. We need to learn to appreciate the interaction with others and not take them for granted. We need to actively live in the moment of the conversation and pay full attention to the other person, which will lead to establishing respect and a sense of appreciation. This will make our conversation deeper, more meaningful, and potentially also more enjoyable as we don’t feel rushed.
Secondly, we need to make time to talk and interact with others. Making time in our fully scheduled lives can be extremely difficult. We are bombarded with meetings and tasks all day and very often struggle to make time for active and deep conversations. This can be especially difficult for our relationships with the partner. However, it is ever more important to actively make time to talk in our relationship and not take the easy path of avoiding difficult conversations because we pretend to not have the time. We DO have the time if we really want to invest it into communication. We must make time to talk, then our conversations will lead to building stronger relationships that will last longer.
Another very important aspect of purposeful and meaningful conversations is the location or space those take place. Many of us have conversation in between meeting in offices or in the evening between babysitting kids and cooking meals. This is a very questionable approach. The idea is to have conversations in a safe space for us, where we don’t feel stressed, are not overwhelmed with other things, and have time to talk. A good choice is to for example choose one set space in the flat or house like a dining room where conversations between partners always take place, easy and difficult ones. This way, when we sit in that space, we are already in the right mindset to have conversations and are ore actively involved into talking and listening to our partners. Another example could be a park we regularly go to, or even a nice restaurant we really like. The idea is to make time and to have a certain space that already puts us in the mood to converse with others in an active and purposeful way.
Those three aspects, recognition of the need for deep and purposeful conversations, taking the time to have them as well as choosing the right space to talk in are all essential for having great conversations. Very often, all of those or one aspect is not met by many of us, which can lead to avoiding conversations and ultimately lead to difficulties arising in our relationships with others. It is important to appreciate great conversations in our hectic lives and actively make time for them. This way, we learn to value talking to others again and not take it for granted. Communication and conversations are essential in all of our lives, but we have to learn to appreciate them as such again and invest time and energy into communication and building deep relationships with others. Make time to communicate - the rewards will be amazing in the long term – so all the effort is so worth it for living happier and more fulfilled lives with loved ones around us with which we share a deep trust and understanding, which can only be established through deep and purposeful conversations.
