The last time I spoke was a few weeks ago at Mavis' 97th party when I read a few of my rambles. Speaking is planned, talking is what we do over a bagel or a Chinese chicken salad. I'm just saying.
There's a line in the Maltese Falcon when Sydney Greenstreet says to Bogart, I love to talk to a man who loves to talk. He then laughs his enormous guffaw. I too love to talk. I can't say enough about it. Even more, I enjoy listening. An interchange is a beautiful thing, sometimes a found poem when it flows spontaneously.
Here is a phone conversation I had with a dear friend who died about 10 years ago.
She……Hello, Peggy?
Me…….This is Norm
She……Why do you sound funny?
Me…….I’m in the shower.
She……What are you doing there?
Me…… Next to washing …..I do some of my best thinking in the shower.
She……Maybe you should wake up in the shower.
Me…… I’ve been here since last Thursday.
She……I think you’re clean by now.
Me… A microscope shows all the organisms in our eyebrows and fingernails.
She…… And some of them are good bacteria, I’ll bet.
Me…… I wish they were labeled.
She……All creatures great and small.
Me……As we speak, trillions of microbes are going down the drain.
She……Sounds like my portfolio.
Me- I don't even have a portfolio.
She……Failure makes you try harder.
Me…….What are we talking about? I suppose you want to speak to Peggy.
She……I forgot why I'm calling.
Me…….That’s OK. I forgot why I’m in the shower. Peggy is in the bathtub.
She........Is she thinking, too, or just getting clean?
He…….. I can hear her singing.
________
I can almost hear the first known conversation spoken in grunts and gesticulations around the fire. Your cave or mine? Have I got a headache. You’re getting old. You’re 23…. Tomorrow, you hunt and I’ll gather.
The greatest leap forward was Bell's invention of Hello. Prior to Hello people didn’t know how to break the ice. Now they say What’s happening? or just Hey. If the next sentence is about the weather, you're off to a bad start. Yet, much can be said for non-verbal communication; it beats non-communicative verbiage.
Marina Abramovits, the conceptual artist, conversed wordlessly with folks from one minute to several hours as they wished. This took place at the Museum of Modern Art in 2010. A friend of mine waited in line for seven hours to have her audience. A few seconds of eye contact brought tears to both their eyes.
So much can be expressed through our eyes, facial gestures and body language. Even in normal discourse silence is essential. As the old adage goes, If you have nothing to say the very least you can do is shut up.
On the other hand, one wonders how so little can be said in so many words. But enough about Trump.
Nothing beats soulful communing; discourse without self-censure. Layers are peeled back in self-discovery just in being present for each other.
Thank you for this! Hope to...talk with you soon.
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