So it turns out that many of the tidbits that we’ve heard or read over and over in our lives such as to put down the toilet seat after you’re finished your business so that all kinds of items and animals don’t plunge inside (much less a sleepy person navigating to the commode destination in the middle of the night) are certainly helpful in the long run, if not just plain “right”. But often times, we humans being who we are, have to try something out for ourselves to exert our free will I suppose and feel that we have a modicum of control of our lives (which by the way is an illusion, but I’ll save that for another blog).

Take a topic such as “communicating with others”. Have you just about read and heard every dang thing you can possibly stand on this subject? As communicative an animal as we people are, you would certainly think that we would know how to communicate with each other but every year someone writes yet another new book on the subject. And for crying out loud if there isn’t just a heck of a lot of people waiting to gobble up the books and put the title and author on the bestsellers list for weeks and weeks at a time.

But, yeah, we do have so much to learn about communicating with each other. Still. I know I do and I blog everyday and interview people on the radio every week and I still have so much to learn about communication with others. The tidbit that has been helpful for me to remember lately, because it really does work, is when you are meeting someone you don’t know (or at least, don’t know very well), become genuinely interested in who they are and what they do. For some people, this tidbit will seem about as boring as watching paint dry but all of us are going to end up at some point in our lives when we’re just going to have to buck it up and communicate with others. Remember to be interested.

Why is being interested in someone else a good communication tool? Because most people love to talk about themselves and/or what is going on in their lives. Many people love to be recognized and “seen” by someone else. There was a friend of mine who was very popular in this town until he moved away several years ago and I think one of the reasons so many people liked him was because he seemed like he was really interested in who you were and what you had to say. He also remembered things that you had shared that were important to you. Very simple tidbits my friend used, but they worked very well for him.

I had my last American Literature class today and said goodbye to some of my fellow students. Our class had over 200 people in it but there was a core group of us that went to most every class and we all sate in the front section. I’m so glad that I put aside any nervousness or insecurity that I may have felt so that I could get to know some of the other students. It’s fun to walk through campus and see fellow students that I know and to end up in another class with each other again and again.

This past weekend my husband and I attended a party that was a celebration for one of our friends who is just blossoming in the world of journalism. The hostess’ home was absolutely gorgeous and the other attendees were all so interesting and doing such important things to encourage and improve humanity. I had just learned the day before that long-time gig that I’ve had for over a year is ending in two weeks and I’m also in this place right now where I am recreating myself. So when someone asks me “what do you do” I’d truly have to splinter that answer in several ways and don’t really have one specific “thing” that I can hang my purse on. But as luck (or Higher Power) would have it, I was so interested and curious in who the other people were and what they were up to that there never really was an awkward moment where I had to say what exactly I did.

In my past, this situation that I described above would have sent me into a tail spin of awkward feelings and wanting to run away. “Ahhhhhh”, my inside self said, “get over yourself Lynn!”

So think about some of the tidbits of wisdom that have made it into the storage cells of your brain and remember that there are probably a lot of things and ways of being that you do know what to do and how to be. They’re just so simple, it’s easy to think right past them.

When communicating with others, be nice, be curious and be interested, you never know, you just might find out something or get to know someone you enjoy!