Want to Be Happier and Have More Meaningful Relationships?  Start Talking! 

The next time you’re out in a public place, whether at the grocery store, a baseball game or seeing a play, take a look around and note how many people have their noses buried in their smartphone. We think nothing of the ping from a text message, but the sound of a ringing phone is almost alarming these days. We’ve become programmed to communicate in short snippets, never fully sharing a story from beginning to end with all the details. In a world where we’re so overly connected with texting, email, blogs, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, and more, it’s amazing how disconnected we really are as a society. We have so many forms of communication at our disposal, yet it’s exactly those mediums that often prevent us from having a real, meaningful conversation.

A recent New York Times article stated, “If you don’t regularly exercise your ability to connect face-to-face, you’ll eventually find yourself lacking some of the basic biological capacity to do so.” When we’re not having real life conversations with people, we are lacking key parts of a communication and aren’t able to pick up on things such as sensing a sense of approval or disapproval and it’s easy to misunderstand what is being communicated as a result of not hearing inflections in someone’s voice that let us know how the message is meant to be interpreted. We can all attest to misinterpreting a text message or email and wondering for days what the person really meant, but we don’t always ask to clear it up.

When was the last time you sat down to have a real conversation, whether on the phone or physically together, with a good friend or family member? We can all use the excuse we are too busy and don’t have time, but it is a matter of setting priorities. We live in a busy world. But as humans it is necessary for us to connect with others on a more intimate level—it does us good and honestly feels good. Real conversations also build your capacity to empathize with others, as well as, improve your overall health because you feel more connected to other human beings and to the world in general. Real communication is important for building all kinds of relationships, both professional and personal.

The time is now to get inspired to have a deeper conversation of your own with someone that you care about. Yes, a real phone conversation or sit down conversation over coffee takes time out of our already over scheduled calendars, but you’ll walk away with improved, closer relationships that are worth the investment. Having a meaningful phone or in person conversation on a regular basis will tap more deeply into your emotional side and enrich your life.  Technology is great and holds an important place in our life, but use it to supplement not replace a real conversation. Now go and build up your tribe!

By Joel Schwartz
Joel Schwartz is the founder of Parlor.me—the first and only Social Talking Network. Parlor connects people that share the same interests, want to talk about the same topic, and do so in a one-on-one private conversation.  It’s a great place to connect with friends and make new ones!  Popular discussion topics include politics, sports, advice, religion, music, games, celebrities, and much more.  Parlor offers users the ability to connect on a deeper, more personal level than other digital social networks. www.parlor.me