If you're still self-isolating with your partner, roommate, or family members, you might be growing "tired" of talking about Coronavirus. You know that it's important to stay informed, stay home, and practice social distancing - but beyond doing everything you can to protect your neighbours and serve your moral duty, that is all you can do. We continue to follow government and World Health Organization guidelines to buy the best scientists in the world time to create a vaccine for this vicious disease. Our lives have been consumed by COVID-19 (for good reason), however we humans were not meant to be cooped up in our homes long-term, unable to hug our friends or attend our normal activities. Some of us are starting to yearn for other things to talk about.
In addition, the Black Lives Matter movement continues to progress (thanks to those of you out there protesting and donating!) and spark long-overdue conversations about system racism and moving towards complete racial equality. These conversations must continue to build momentum. Fixing racial justice is non-negotiable - and **all of us **can always do something (more on this here). Keep your foot on the gas - real change will come as more of us continue to push. Social justice movements are a marathon, not a sprint. This means that while we want to keep this movement in our heads and actions frequently, we also need to ensure that we're meeting our personal self-care needs effectively so that we can continue to "show up" for each leg of the race.
Between these two major global events and being isolated together for nearly 4 months now, it can be hard sometimes to find something to talk about with your best friend or partner that doesn't feel vapid or that you haven't already talked about. For those of us who are feeling a little tired of small talk (or "virus talk") and are craving some different conversation topics, try some of these thought-provoking prompts on your next date night or afternoon picnic:
- What part of being a kid do you miss the most?
- What's the best piece of advice you've ever gotten?
- What do you want your life's legacy to look like?
- As a kid, what was your favourite place to go or thing to do? Why?
- What would a "perfect" day look like for you?
- What's your favourite memory with me and why?
- If there was an extra hour in every day, what would you spend more time doing?
- What are the top 3 things on your bucket list?
- If you could live anywhere else in the world, where would it be?
- If you won the lottery, what kind of charity would you start? Where would you vacation?
- If you could have absolutely any career in the world, what would it be?
We all crave rich, meaningful conversations - the ones that make us feel alive and leave us feeling energetic, inspired, and connected to our conversation partner. Though we might think we'd have these all the time when you live with someone 24/7, it's really easy to fall into patterns at home of only discussing life's logistics. We tend to have deeper conversations on (good) first dates and other events where we're just getting to know someone - but once we're comfortable and have spent extended time together, we naturally stop being as inquisitive. There's nothing wrong or abnormal about this at all - those of us with partners or roommates are lucky to have someone that we're 100% comfortable around. It just means that we need to be a little more intentional and mindful about when our needs for meaningful conversation and connection are lacking. While we need to continue to stay vigilant and informed about COVID-19, we also need to make sure we're saving time to fill our lives with joy, curiosity, creativity, and stimulating, fulfilling relationships.
Source:
https://www.lemonade.com/blog/creating-meaningful-conversations/