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Friday, February 18, 2011

$0.02

I just finished reading East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I have a new favorite book as well as a strong desire to read the rest of his books. One of my favorite characters in the book was Samuel Hamilton. He always had an insightful thing to say and it prompted me to think about several different issues.

One of my favorite quotes from the book is "Perhaps the best conversationalist in the world is the man who helps others to talk."

Beautiful.

Maybe he was right?! People love to talk about themselves. Who knows more about an individual than that particular individual?? Even if we don't know everything about ourselves (which is why college students make irrational choices sometimes, to try to "find" themselves), who knows us better?? Our parents may have a better memory of our past, our friends may have seen us at our worst, our dogs may see us when we get up in the morning, but the one constant thing in each of those scenarios is the individual.

Maybe I'm just blowing smoke and trying to be insightful. But maybe John Steinbeck was onto something.

Think about your best friend in high school. Why was that person your best friend?? Did she listen to you? You didn't even have to be talking about yourself, just any topic. Did she help you learn something by talking you through it? Maybe your college roommate brought over Chinese takeout and chocolate ice cream after your boyfriend dumped you via text. She let you talk it out. Then worked off all the junk food the next day (or quite possibly, the next week) with you.

Please, talk. I love to listen.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks!! East of Eden is one of my all-time favorite books. The last time that I saw Uncle Chris, he told me to read The Grapes of Wrath. I finally bought it, on the one year anniversary of his death, but I still can't bring myself to read it. He tried to give me his only copy of it that night, too...

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