Having a rich inner life is a good thing, but it’s easy to get caught up in your own journey and to fall in love with your own thoughts. Ever hang out with somebody who seems more interested in “expanding your awareness” than in sharing a moment? I know how easy it is to become that person.
2017 taught me the value of just being with people. Like, it’s cool to have good ideas, but there’s a time to stop teaching and just be with people, and that time is actually most of the time.
I’ve learned from friends as well as from rural villages that people don’t need you to interview them as much as they need you to listen to them. They don’t need you to teach them as much as they’d like you to eat with them. They don’t need you to rescue them as much as they need you to sing, dance, and party with them.