Last night I attended a Board meeting. When I went to it, I did so with a bottle of Maker’s Mark Kentucky Bourbon in hand. After the meeting adjourned four of us stayed behind and opened the bottle.
We didn’t talk about anything earth shattering or important. Indeed, reflecting back now, I can’t even remember what most of the things we talked about were. What I can remember, clearly, is how good it felt to be sitting there with friends.
We were a small group of four who have known each other and worked together for a lot of years now. It’s comfortable to sit together, indeed joyful to just casually sit and talk.
And that was why I grabbed the bottle on my way out of the house. So that we would have an excuse to just be together.
That is I think, one of the great joys in life. To just be able to spend time with friends, sharing in conversation, enjoying spending time in each other’s company.
I fear that as machines (like the one you are reading this short essay on) grow more and more important in our lives we are losing opportunities to make friends and to spend time with friends.
If we allow that to happen it isn’t good for us, mentally or emotionally. We were created as social animals, and we need to be together, to converse, to share our own unique perspectives with others, if we are to truly thrive.
So it’s important that we make time for just that. Important that we seize opportunities for fellowship and conversation when they present themselves to us. By doing so we gain something truly vital that can never come to us through a screen.
Amen to this one. My buddies are coming over on Monday to sit on my back porch and chew the rag.