So let them. Ask them stuff. The validation far exceeds the input.
anecdote alert:
I told the hairdresser, "If you don't mind, I brought in my razor for you to show me how to oil it. The other woman already showed me but my razor doesn't match hers. I'm not sure where to put drops." She cut my hair and when she was done she said, "I'll get your backpack for you to pull out your razor." She took out her two types of oil, drip and spray, she plugged in my razor and carefully demonstrated. She was detailed in all aspects, explained different oils, what not to do, as if teaching a class. She too time, unrushed, and she really did help me understand. The thing is so noisy and obnoxious I almost threw it away. I had no idea I'm supposed to oil the thing each time. Now it hums quietly and it's a lot smoother. No tugging. But interestingly, I think, she felt as good about the exchange as I did. Then it occurred to me, she appreciated her specialization acknowledged. Beyond the ordinary, "great haircut."
I'm going to ask young people a lot more knowledge-based questions and give them the chance to shine as instructors.
2 comments:
I'll be interested to hear how that plays out for you.
On one hand, young people like to teach, and on the other hand they tend to have a range of interests and experiences that vary from what they feel passionate about or are hyper-interested in to situations and things they've yet to encounter or know very little about.
Sincere interest invites connection at any age.
From reading today:
"Language is the house of being," Heidegger said. If that's true then there are mansions which have been made into shacks by silence, and there are simple dwellings that feel palatial because the sound of life is inside them. Breaking the silence is a gift that we can all give, a blessing disguised as "ordinary". Just speak across the chasms that divide us, for human speech is neither cheap nor small.
Wordsworth used to seed his discourse with long-lost friends by beginning this way: "Tell me, what has come clear to you since last we met?" Just imagine a world where human conversation counted for that much again. Imagine that words were that important, and sharing them that rich.
Sometimes all we are looking for in this life is a word from someone. A word of reassurance, a word of forgiveness, a word of reconciliation. The authentic life is worth talking about. Talking about it makes it more authentic still.
Post a Comment