😃
Most people today crave a sense of connection, and a short verbal exchange with a stranger is surprisingly powerful. The awkwardness of a failed conversation is brief and light when compared to the fulfillment that comes with randomly connecting to a person you know nothing about
May 21, 2024
Related Recs
💟
whenever i’m waiting in line, or walking next to someone, i love to try start a conversation. just say hi, try to make some small talk and see what happens. sometimes its awkward, but sometimes we really hit it off. its scary at first but ive found im always glad i did it. usually i don’t even get their name - its just nice getting to know someone
May 22, 2024
🗣
TLDR: there are friends everywhere for those with eyes to see
I think one consequence of urbanism is a sense of alienation or otherness from one’s neighbors, and especially from strangers. the average person you pass on the street is assumed to have little in common with you with which to establish a mutual connection. maybe this is a consequence of me living in the south, but i’ve been finding that most people are happy to start a light conversation in public.
ive been making a practice of being in public spaces with a posture of openness to interaction. no earbuds in, making light convo with people like service workers that goes beyond the transaction, striking up convos with people who are sharing a space i’m in, etc. most recently I stopped on a park bench at a skatepark during a bike ride and struck up a convo with a skater who beefed a trick and was describing in great detail how it happened and his history with skating. shout out cole I hope your collar bone isn’t broken.
these aren’t the same as a deep, intentional community that one has with close friends/peers (that comes from seeking out, plugging in, and showing up consistently), but seeing everyone around you as a possibility for human connection until proven otherwise makes one feel less lonely. there’s an intentionality in having a posture of openness to connection that can become a self fulfilling prophecy. it’s easy nowadays to feel like we live in social archipelagos, with our own clusters of friends and loved ones with little connecting each group to each other and little connection to others everywhere around us. but your average person is just as interesting and worth getting to know as anyone else. be curious, be cordial, and start integrating casual momentary connections into your life to tide you over between the deeper relationships in your life you might not have access to all the time
May 4, 2025
🗣
I love an ephemeral chat with a stranger. The kind where you both silently acknowledge it's situational, but it's nice to just make each others' company a pleasant way to pass the time for that fleeting moment. I hardly initiate the conversation these days (I think the pandemic knocked me back a few rungs on the social confidence ladder), but I'm always open to it. It's a good alternative to drifting through life scrolling on a phone in public, and for someone like me, it's always a benefit to be shaken out of your over-analytical thought factory. The only time I'm not shy is when I see someone with a film camera - then I go full motor-mouth.
Feb 26, 2024
Top Recs from @_fredluz_
⭐
We were the only people who got on the 7.40 bus from my small town, he got picked up two stops after mine. Then, the 8.28 train to Lisbon and finally the green line of the metro, exiting at Arroios. He went to the the south exit and me to the north, but suddenly he stopped getting on the bus. I hope you're ok, my man. Still love your blue shoes (you know the ones).
May 21, 2024
⭐
People will excuse most social faux pas if you're skilled enough at laughing at yourself. Be slightly weirder.
May 21, 2024
⭐
thats it thats the recc
May 21, 2024