Processing

Talking with people about *stuff* is very important to me. I think it has been important to most. I have a walking partner friend who shares a need to process and so we have for a LONG time taken our 'route' and worked out stuff together. Most of the time we just process what has been on our mind to see how much sense it makes. One or the other spends a lot of time listening and then there is some response. I feel like this is a lost art. When I was younger I had other people who I processed life with. It helped. It also helped 'grow me up' in many ways as in the process of talking, much was realized. Laughing also is helpful.

After some recent, very intense processing lately, it helped me to see how beneficial this really is for our overall sanity. It helped me realize also what was missing in some of my children's lives where most of the communication is on the internet or at least is plugged in some how. If they bottle in the negative, they believe it more and more and dwell on it. If they can release some of their doubts about themselves or worries, then it gets outside of them. They also can hear a response to their thoughts and it helps them to grab perhaps a more positive view of reality. It isn't perhaps as bad as they think it is and they also can hear that they are not the only ones who have had similar fears and worries. They are not ALONE. It seems that facebook, chats, and texting are all a bit lonely or isolated to more superficial things. When I was young, the older people complained about how the phone was not human contact. Human contact is SO important. So in this little musing I have been having with myself and then with my walking partner today, I hope to be able to remind my kids the importance of connecting with other people in a more personal way. It just helps. The walking helps too.