What Stays With Us After a Conversation Ends

I have been thinking about what stays with us after a conversation ends.

Part of the reason I decided to start this podcast was a sense that I was missing deeper connection with those around me. I had been feeling this way for a while, and when I finally gave it some deeper thought, I realised that — and this is nothing new — our lives are so fast and often overwhelming that we reach for simple distractions just to take a break from the constant stimulus hitting our minds.

Ironically, we usually reach for more — Facebook, Instagram, or the 24-hour news cycle.

Often, time with friends or those dear to us is squeezed into a quick coffee or drink, catching up on what’s been going on in each other’s lives. But it can remain fairly shallow, with time, or the next thing, pushing us on.

This podcast is a gift to myself, one I hope will become a gift to others as well.

It’s taken months of slowly, bit by bit, learning how to set up and design a website, thinking deeply about what I want this to be, and learning new skills, including how to use a number of new software products. There’s been the joy of learning new things and the frustration of failure until I got it right — or almost right.

But one of the greatest joys has been taking the time to reach out to people, share the concept and, step by step, go through the process of putting a long-form conversation together.

It has made me think deeply about the conversations I want to have.

From the preparation before making that first call — thinking about why I am reaching out to this particular person and what it is I want to learn about them — to the discovery call, where we take the time to unpack the conversation and consider themes, questions and what might be off the cards for discussion. Then testing the technology and flow, and finally spending a couple of hours together recording.

Each step, each conversation, has brought a deeper human connection and the joy — and sometimes the pain and sorrow — of shared human experience.

I have learned something new each time about my guests and about myself. From every story, every time.

What a gift it has been!

And the fact that these conversations are recorded has allowed me to go back and listen again, each time gaining something new. So, in a way, the conversation never really ends. More thoughts emerge. More ideas for more conversations.

I feel so excited by the connections and the insights I’ve already gained. There are too many to list here. And I think about those still to come as I keep recording, listening and taking the time to ask deeper questions.

It has helped me rediscover how wonderful, interesting, loving and flawed we are — and how much joy can come from simply taking the time to truly listen to those close to us.

So perhaps, the conversation truly never ends, as we carry a piece or two of it with us…