Tea Party Conversation

As my sisters and I sat enjoying a delightful tea party, Elisabeth asks, “What are some good questions to ask, to get a conversation going?” That was all we need to get us going on a lengthy conversation about communication.

First we discussed the basics. What are some good questions to ask? We girls didn’t have much of an answer to that. Rather we discussed how difficult it was for us to actually get into a good interesting conversation. How helpful it would be if there was a book which just gave you lots of good questions to ask, but then when you get into a real life conversation those questions just fly out the window and are either forgotten or just don’t seem to be the right ones. Or some times we contemplate long and hard about what were going to talk about, but conversations never go as planned.

Then there are always those awkward silences. What do you do about that? Well, really a silence is not so bad. I think some people think that there can never be a silent moment, but I think that a little silence can be even a good thing at times. Or sometimes it is just time to say “It was nice talking to you! Have a nice day. Goodbye!”

We went rattling off about, talking to guys or the opposite sex. Yes, there is always those awkward years for a girl, when she just doesn’t know how to talk relaxingly to a guy. It just puts her in a fluster and she gets all embarrassed and nervous. Then we get out of that stage and learn to actually talk to the opposite sex and have a normal conversation without getting flustered.

There is also those years when, at least for some girls, we are super shy and don’t know how to talk at all to anyone. Our feet become a primary spot of investigation. Then we work past those years. For me it was when I was around 13 and my family changed churches and although the people were friendly, I realized that if I was going to make friends there, then I was going to have to step out of my “comfort zone” and be the one to talk to others and meet knew people.

Then there is that question as to how to end a conversation. If the conversation has gone too far and no longer is edifying, how do you stop that conversation and start on a new one. I guess we just decided the only answer to that was to simply change the subject.

In the end we laughed over the fact that we had just had a rather extensive conversation over the question “How do you start a conversation?”

What about you? Do you find it hard to start a conversation with your friends? Do you find it difficult to end a conversation-gone-awry? Did you have those awkward years of being flustered whenever a guy talks to you? Or are you really good at talking to others and you have some tips for me and my sisters to improve on our conversation skills? I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

Random fact: It is now getting to blackberry season, and because we have wild blackberry brambles near us that we can pick for free, it is so much fun. It is quite and adventure to go through and find brambles and scare away snakes and pull off ticks and wander to far from the rest of your group and wonder if you’ll get back to them alive and try to keep from getting too scratched up from the thorns. Yes, quite an adventure. Wild blackberry picking is the best!