This month’s Blog is all about connection. I love E.M. Forster’s catchphrase ‘Only Connect’ and the need to connect is something I’ve been hearing about a lot on some of my daily #walksinthepark. People need to relax after the intensity of life online and we tend to talk more spontaneously, more heart-to-heart, as we walk.
We have been so socially distant – or what I like to call spatially distant – for a while, so when we do meet each other it’s all the more moving. Michel de Montaigne prided himself on his ability to connect with others through conversation: ‘What I would praise would be a soul … at ease wherever fortune led it; which could chat with a neighbour about whatever he is building…’ During a recent chat with a neighbour in the park on the one snowy day this year, I found myself genuinely caught up in his stories of home schooling his five-year-old daughter whose school has given her an app on her phone to learn from. No teacher interaction. The ‘swipe’ generation are losing out on that precious storytelling hour at the end of the day. Grr!
One of the other things Montaigne thought important about heart-to-heart connection, was the search for truth. We associate truth-telling with looking someone in the eye: ‘Look at this man in the eye’ runs a current ad on the London Underground. But what happens when we can’t – for whatever reason? It has been proven that not speaking in this way to anyone for too long can lead to inflammation of the body which can affect our emotions.
But when we tell a story, any story, we tell our story – then it is impossible not to breathe, look people in the eye. Viewing a story on film is different from listening to someone tell us a story: we often miss out on the most important aspect – it’s not just brain material for our minds to chew over. We need to trust sharing beyond our social media bubbles. This month why not try calling someone you haven’t seen for some time, out of the blue? Try it! Tell them a story, any story. I did this recently so this friend wants to meet up sometime this spring for one of her regular #walksinthepark – gr8!
I developed Narrative Life Coaching to help you set off on a journey towards the person that you have always wanted to be. If you’re interested in finding out more or would like to work with me please check out my website: narrativelifecoaching.co.uk
If you need more inspiration, this week is #nationalstorytelling week and the great storyteller C. S. Lewis wrote in The Magician’s Nephew ‘Awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters.’ Way to go!
Useful links:
Warmly
X Elizabeth Rose
