Newscoma

We live in a frantic time.
There is so much information available that it’s hard to find one small rein on the horse to hang on to. We text, we email, we Facebook and we twitter. Websites, blogs and forums have about three seconds to grab a reader’s attention. Once that three seconds is over, poof! It’s gone.
It’s more than that however.
Are we really listening and retaining what is going on around us? Are we really paying attention to our friends, our associates and our families and what they are really saying? Are they listening to us?
When you think about it, it can be a lonely place because, despite what folks may say, it’s an angry, confused world out there right now. That’s not always the case, but it’s also a reality. I’m not saying we don’t have genuine love or appreciation or respect. But in my online persona, I sure don’t want to have to fight for it either. It should be organic. I am also pleased that I’m seeing new faces on the scene, less tired than I feel today and who have a spark of energy that is invigorating to watch and, yes, feel.
But today I’m talking about real communication and our ability to listen even if we don’t like or agree with the message.
Even face-to-face, it’s hard to focus on anything but real life issues all of us are going through. There are many of us who are so deep into our own stuff. Financial obligations and challenges, relationship issues, re-identifying losses and gains that were unexpected, trying to remain positive and a gamut of things that are not only emotional and run deep, but things that gives us a feeling that we are drowning.
I read blogs, I talk to folks in different situations and it appears to me I’m not the only one who feels that way. It seems that our politics and our news are more about the grabbing the reader instead of dealing with the facts, and also importantly, the conversation and perceptions on people’s minds. We don’t always cultivate the ideas of others, not do we feel our ideas our being nurtured either because I think we all forget that relationships, albeit online or off, is a give or take. To be heard, you have to listen. This is a privilege that goes both ways.
There really are no answers here, it’s just an observation and this has been brewing in my brain for about a week. I realized while combing through blogs for Speak to Power, that a lot of bloggers have gone quiet.
Of course, this is my opinion. My mother died 12-years-ago today, I’m going through transitions that are very real to me and my family and I basically feel that I’m starting over, a feeling that has gone on since last year since I was downsized. I never thought I’d have to do that in my mid-40s. It’s hard and wasn’t on the plan. It has not been easy. I have experienced highs and lows, some that had to do with my very own identity.
I’m not the only one.
My hope is that I can continue to see the story within the story. I will work on trying to hone my listening skills. I have always tried to see both sides to an issue and not react emotionally even when I was chomping at the bit. When I find that others refuse to do that, my eyes and ears will eventually have to go elsewhere.
In this age of communication, I believe it is a mission to communicate and that starts with listening instead of marginalizing people that might not agree but we have to remember we are all of value.
Life is too short for anything less.