Steve Post: A day late, but connected to Colleen for sure!

Hey Bloggers,

Sorry about my delay...I was going to get this up last night, but there was a really bad storm where I was staying, and the next thing I knew, the entire internet went down...and well...there went my blog.  So, I am now in Detroit, at the airport, en route back home (before heading right back out to fly to Nashville tomorrow)...and my blog was going to be about how people are getting more and more isolated, disconnected, and selfish with each new innovation in "communication", and VOILA, I get on here to see Colleen and I had connected through some sort of mental telepathy...all the way from Salt Lake City to Warren!!  Good job Colleen!

 Colleen, your comment about eye contact was amazing.  I have always been a firm believer that you must give people eye contact when you talk with them AND when you listen to them.  It not only marks you as a sincere person, who cares about who you are talking/listening to, but more importantly, it allows you to find out how sincere/insincere the other person is as well.  It does not mean you have to stare at the other person...that is disconcerting.  Instead, it means you look at them, listen to them, and connect to them.  It is one of the things that I hear from a lot of folks in the audience who come to talk to me; they always say what a "great connector" I am...because I am always looking at them while talking.  (and drumming!).  Again, I don't stare; I look in all kinds of places, but one of the places I look a lot is UP and OUT...at others.  Remember our New Step 6: to Do Good?  In the last 3 mos I have added to it quite often the words "for Others".  I believe that Doing Good means your goal is for ANOTHER person.  It goes back to what Jovanna posted in her brilliant Blog...about whether or not you are a work in progress.  I never did get a moment to comment on that, so I will hear.  Personally, for myself, I believe I am still a work in progress mainly because I think we are ALL works in progress.  For me, the journey in life...God's journey, is never finished, because you never know what is in store the next day.  However, to succeed in that journey, you need remember what Step 6 is about...you must remember that to Do Good means with another in mind...you should always try doing your best for someone else...not for yourself...not to "feel good"...but simply to serve...because God calls us all to serve, and one of the easiest ways to do this is to truly connect to someone else.  You don't actually have to do anything...simply showing respect, compassion, caring may help someone have a better day...and in doing so, you have Done Good for another person.

In today's world it seems that doing anything is too often directed inwardly, and selfishly.  Jovanna, I loved your example...How are you?  Good?  You?  Good?  End of conversation.  Although I always ask how people are, the difference is, I ask because I care.  I want others to be happy, excited, enjoying life, enjoying human interaction, and I try to do my best to help with this anyway that I can.  That includes my favorite question...What is new?  I ask this not to be generic, but because I actually care to hear what people have been up to...what they have been doing...since we last talked in person.  My 2 biggest pet peeves are...(1) hearing NOTHING.  Sometimes this is true...and that is OK.  But, when it is the only answer, my feeling is that "Oh, you cannot be bothered to tell me what you have been doing...or ask me what I have been doing."

However, that is NOT my biggest pet peeve...it is the person who is either telling you what they have been doing OR listening to you, and then their phone goes off...and they grab it, and start attending to it.  I HATE THIS beyond belief, because it is so rude.  No ONE of us is so important that a message (text, email, voicemail) cannot wait until we are done with the actual in person communication that we are doing.  I know I get a lot of grief from people because my phone is either OFF, or in the car...and NEVER on me.  But, my theory is...I will get to the digital communication AFTER I am done with the human communication, because it must come first!  I used to snicker at what I see in the mall today, but anymore it makes me plain sad...teenagers "hanging out" by walking shoulder to shoulder NEVER talking TO each other, but rather, texting to someone in digital land...never actually enjoying the human companionship they have right by their side.

I honestly can say I fear this trend, and that it is going to keep getting worse.  When I hear of all the "great things" coming for cell phones...how they will someday turn on/off your lights at home, allow you to watch your home security camera from anywhere in the world, replace YOUR CREDIT CARD AND BANK ACCOUNT with a digital code that you wave through the air to buy things, be your entertainment hub (like on my 3.5 hour flight today, where the guy next to me watched almost 2 full movies on a 2 inch screen that he held about 6 inches from his nose...how "FUN" can that really be?)...I fear that someday, life will be just one big CELL PHONE (well small phone actually) where we all sit ALONE in a room and text nonstop to people we will never know in person.

What can SR do about this?  We MUST keep human connection alive; we must remember that one of the things that makes SR so special is that we look forward to spending time...at shows...at practice...eating apple dumplings (and cherry floats!)...TOGETHER...making memories that I hope will not only last a lifetime for all of us BUT also remind others watching that you can have so much more fun WITH someone in person than simply by digitally existing.

So, I will add this rant to what Colleen posted and let you all chatter away about both things.  And, while you are at it, ask Dee what SHE did to my spoon in my cherry float last weekend!  URGHH the pain of that memory.  HAH!!