Forgotten art of conversation

It happened in a strange way but late last year it occurred to me how little we talk anymore...

Forgotten art of conversation

A lot can happen over coffee: Cafes have been home to art, culture and conversations over the years. Sadly, the cafe culture has dwindledu00a0 file pic

Most of December was devoted to repairs at home. They weren't exactly 'if I don't do it now the roof will fall on our heads' type, but more to do with maintenance. More than poets and perhaps on par with politicians, contractors have a certain way with words. Especially when it comes to promises. So the contractor looked at what was considered the scope of the work and promised to have it done in a period of time that could be borne with gritted teeth rather than a a total collapse of the nervous system.

The workers arrived. The work began. The workers didn't arrive. The work paused. Thus began a whole new cycle in my life.

Meanwhile most of the rooms lay in disarray stripped of furniture and purpose. Marble dust covered every available surface including the leaves of house plants and the dog's snout. What I thought was going to be a spit and polish job was acquiring the dimensions of the building of the pyramids. I watched helplessly as men came and went and progress was measured by inches.

The house hummed but as evening fell, it acquired an eerie silence. In the best interest of our gadgets, we had unplugged the TVs and put the radio and music system away as well.

And that was when it struck me - how little we talk contributed to the noises in our homes. Conversation has dwindled to almost banal essentials rather than sharing of thoughts, ideas, dreams or even a laugh.

The quality of our silence u2013u00a0 what was considered the cornerstone of a good relationship was weighed down by white noise. The television, the radio, the telephone, the music, the ipod, the mobile u2013 in countless ways we have filled up spaces where words ought to have flourished.

Instead of talking among ourselves, we plonk ourselves in front of the TV and watch TV hosts talk.

We huddle in chairs across each other and hear the nonsensical prattle of radio hostsu2026 we punch keys on our mobile phones and air our secret thoughts and daily lives to strangers across the world instead of the person in the roomu2026it is as if we need to distance ourselves from talk.

And I think of evenings when the family gathered either in the living room or around the dining table and minds were exercised. Of dinner parties where the conversation went late on into the nights and persisted even at the door stepu2026 we were simply loathe to stop talking. There was so much to sayu2026.

In 18th and 19th century Europe, cafes were home to both coffee and cake and conversation.

Ideas were brewed along with coffee and as the aroma rose so did the wave of culture. Perhaps what is needed is the return of the cafes in our lives.

With the changing times, art and culture might find new cradles. But we just may forget to talk, to converseu2026 and how sad that would be?

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