New Connections

Moving to Seattle kind of opened up a big old can of worms for me. This place is so different from what I grew up with.  One of the things that kept popping up in my head is the sense of isolation that can occur when you live in a big city. 

Yes you wake up, you go to work you come home sleep and the cycle continues. You tell yourself that there are so many options for events and get togethers but more often than not you decide to stay home instead of venturing out into the unknown. 

See growing up in a small town had its downfalls, you have one movie theater, the fair comes about twice a year and if you wanted to shop at a decent place you'd need to get in a car and drive to the nearest big city.

Here you don't have those issues. There's at least 50 shopping areas, hundreds of movie theaters varying in size and perks, and I'm sure if you really wanted to you could find a fair or circus or something unique to go see in an instant. 

But there's just a little thing that is missing. Some call it that small town charm, but I call it opportunity. I call it luck & good fortune. I call it connection. 

In small towns you know almost everyone's parents and children. In small towns you can walk down the street and see a handful of people that genuinely care about you, your family, your businesses even your health. See big cities take that away. They create this atmosphere where individuals just focus on their own lives and the few people they already know.

Big cities shrink your comfort zone. You end up going to the same restaurants, ordering the same drink or meal each time, hanging with the same people... All because there is no longer the need to form new connections.  

Lets recreate the need to form these new connections. Lets take the time to look someone in the eye and ask how they are doing... And then actually LISTEN. Pay attention to what they say, don't sit there wondering when you can insert that joke you think would fit perfectly in that moment. 

Don't out your phone and scroll down your various timelines... Just LISTEN.

Oh and get out there and do something new at least once a week!