So what makes us sum up our lives in a nutshell? I am always fascinated by the fact that we do this. “My life in a nutshell…”. We live in an instant society. Things have to be done yesterday. We get irritated when it takes longer than four minutes to get our food at a drive thru, and more than ten or fifteen minutes at a sit down restaurant. I was amazed when we went to Germany several years ago, because the typical restaurant took ten to twenty minutes to even see about your drink orders, and then another ten or so to see about what you wanted, and an hour to actually get it to you. And that was fast! Apparently their society places great focus on having conversation at the dinner table. Where has our conversation at the table gone? Where has our conversation gone, period? I’m always fascinated by talking to people online. It seems when you talk to them on the internet several things happen. One is they forget about watching the clock. I think time governs our lives way too much. We constantly strive for meaning in this world, and it seems having a meaningful life means you are busy. We stuff our schedules with things to do so we feel like we lead a life worth living. How long has it been since you went outside and watched the stars for an hour? We don’t make time for the simple things in life anymore. But most people, when they get online, they forget about the time for a few hours and you actually get to talk to them. That’s the second thing, people seem to open up more when they are on the internet. I guess it’s a lack of one on one contact, but before you know it people are spilling details that sometimes you don’t want to know. But it is amazing how much you can learn about someone just by spending a couple of hours just really talking to them. Sometimes I wonder if our personal relationships would be better if we would do that, just honestly talk with one another. We constantly hide things about ourselves because we believe other people will look down upon us. And my idea is that if they aren’t ok with it, then they really aren’t your friend to begin with. So what is your life in a nutshell? Do you compartmentalize yourself into a tiny square inch space? Even to the people you care about? How about having an honest, open conversation for just one hour, maybe you’ll get rid of the nutshell.
