{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Meaningless Conversations","description":"On this week's Keepin It Real, Cam Marston shares what exhausts him and how a good conversation is hard to find. ----- It was 1,000 one-minute conversations. A collection of people who all were within a degree, maybe a half a degree, of separation. Hardly a meaningful chat and as the event wore on, the meaningfulness of the chats dwindled further. For so little conversation, it was exhausting. I think maybe that conversations that skim along the veneer of content are more taxing than digging into content. I don\u2019t know. But when I left, I was completely spent. I\u2019m like so many other people claiming that technology has impacted today\u2019s youth\u2019s ability to communicate. I bemoan their addicted behaviors when it comes to their phones. Technology has impacted their ability to talk, I say, or to hold a conversation, or to make eye contact. Today\u2019s technology has made them only interested in what everyone else is doing or saying, unable to engage with what\u2019s happening right here, right now, right in front of them. However, my own behavior at this event wasn\u2019t much different than the complaints I make about them. I can imagine how I looked, flitting from person to person, hardly engaging anyone, only looking for what\u2019s next and who else was there. The event was spectacular. I was the problem. Not long ago I read about a couple who were invited to a dinner party. They normally decline these invitations because they abhor small talk; it wears them out. The host, however, insisted and the couple begrudgingly showed up, fake smiles pasted on their faces. Once the final guests arrived and all were seated for dinner, the host asked a bombshell question: \u201cHow do each of you deal with your marital conflicts?\u201d After a moment of stunned silence, the couples began sharing their stories and their tactics and their lessons learned. There was no small talk to be had. It was an immediate deep dive into meaningful content. The reluctant couple had said to each other they\u2019d stay until it was acceptable to leave. They had their departure excuse rehearsed. However, they ended up staying until well after midnight and left energized by the conversations, not depleted. I had lunch with a guy a while back. I had shared a book I enjoyed with him weeks before. When he and I sat down, I asked him what he felt his purpose in life were, which was a major element of the book. When his tone changed and he began subtly mocking me thinking I didn\u2019t notice, I realized I had rushed things. It was too soon for that question. Was it too soon in our lunch? Too soon in our friendship? I don\u2019t know. We both hurried the lunch to a close and he\u2019s avoided me ever since. I was searching for meaningful content and assumed he\u2019d join me. He was having none of it and none of me. It\u2019s too bad, too. He\u2019s an interesting guy. Like most people my age, I\u2019m old enough now that I know a good number of people. I wanted that at one point and, well, here I am. However, at my age, I\u2019m old enough now to realize that I want to know, truly know, many, many fewer. I\u2019m Cam Marston and I\u2019m just trying to Keep It Real. ","author_name":"Keepin' It Real with Cam Marston","author_url":"https:\/\/cammarston.com\/keepin-it-real-with-cam-marston\/","html":"