Conversation: a necessity and a lost art in big cities

In this week’s issue, I have written several profile stories, which show off our local talent.
Whether it is a local musician, sound engineer and actor Jeff Downey or global agriculture missionary, FFA advisor and Henry County High School’s Vocational Agriculture teacher Lindsey Davie, Henry County continues to reveal hidden jewels within its hills and hollers.
I continue to find more people with amazing amounts of talent while reconnecting to the county of my childhood. It almost befuddles me as to why I thought I needed to move away. I thought I was missing out on the world when I missed out on so much by not being here.  All personal diatribes aside, I must stress the finer aspect of my job — talking.
Not just mindless prattle, but taking time to talk with the people in the community. It really seems to be a lost art in other places of the world.
In urban areas, it is a culture of impersonal transactions. You adapt to being in a large population by not knowing your neighbor or your community. It is customary to walk with blinders on to ignore people on the street or in your apartment building.
In this city culture, I found it easy to act out of the interest of the individual and consider myself separate from anyone else. It is not a socially sustainable culture and luckily neither my rural upbringing nor occupation=allow me to walk in a bubble of self-interest.
Conversation is one of the few tools that allow us to learn from one generation to the next. It helps the young understand things they will need to know in adulthood. It helps a parent pass on a skill to their child just as holidays and tradition pass on culture. I personally learned everything I need to know about politics in my grandmother’s living room.
I appreciate the numerous introductions that have led to meaningful conversations and ultimately stories for me in the county. Without them, I am just a witness with one perspective. No one can tell your story like your own testament in your own words.  I want the community to know I appreciate you sharing your lives professional and private with me.