Monday, July 19, 2010

Being With Like-Minded Individuals

One of my good friends went to Israel for grad school.  She came back this weekend and hosted a barbecue for friends and family to come to.  There were plenty of people when I got there, but some more did trickle in.  I sat at a table with my friend, some mutual friends, and a few new faces.  We sat at that table talking for hours.  It was amazing.

We started talking lightheartedly.  Talking about our lives and experiences, cracking lots of jokes and laughing all around.  As the evening progressed and the sun set, the conversation got more serious.  We started talking about medical care, mental disease, effective public schooling, and managed to blend them all together.

The experience amazed me in so many ways.  The tone always matched the mood; nobody joked in serious discussion and nobody took the jokes too seriously.  The intelligence level was equal; we all understood what was going on and anything that needed clarifying was explained intelligibly.  And the conversation ended up being a subject that we were all interested in and all had something to say on the matter.  It was so beautiful.

No matter how much you tried, you could never get that kind of thing happening if you aren't with the right kind of people.  It is unique to being with like-minded people.  Now, being like-minded doesn't mean having the same beliefs and opinions.  It means being on a similar wavelength, having similar knowledges and understandings, being able to communicate on the same level.

People who are not like-minded are not bad, nor are they inferior, just different.  You can have a good time and enjoy their company, but there is something special about the like-minded.  It is invigorating, energizing, inspiring.  If you don't do it often, try it out and see what it does for you.

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