Recently, my bride got me started watching The Crown on Netflix. She has already watched the series, but coerced me into watching it with her on her second go round. Reluctantly, I agreed and we are making our way through season one an episode at a time each night. So far, I have to admit that I am enjoying it because I like learning history and I get a kick out of British vernacular that I am picking up along the way. I get a little cheeky every time my bride suggests that we watch an episode, but all in all, it isn't complete rubbish.
In a couple of the early episodes, I noticed some scenes where people were trying to connect with Queen Elizabeth by telephone and the process that took place to make this happen. Calls had to be routed through various switchboard operators and transferred to many rooms in Buckingham Palace in order to reach the final destination of connecting with the Queen. Although I knew that this was how early forms of telephone communication worked, it was still fascinating to watch it in real time and get a visual understanding of how complicated it was to actually connect with people that you wanted to communicate with. Although the technology has certainly changed over the years, has connecting with people actually gotten any easier? In my opinion, access has gotten easier, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done in order to connect.
If you really want to connect with someone, it's more than just friending them on social media or commenting on their posts. Connecting is HARD WORK and you have to be willing to put the time, energy, and effort into it if it is going to be meaningful. You can certainly read about someone online and listen to others about their experiences with a person, but until you actually engage with the person yourself, get to know them, and learn about them first hand, have you actually connected with them? Some would argue that they don't want to connect because they have heard and seen enough to know, but I would contend that they aren't willing to do the work to actually engage. That is part of the reason why we are so fractured as a society sometimes. Connecting with people doesn't mean you have to like or dislike them. It means that you are willing to be open minded to engage in a conversation with someone even though you might have to agree to disagree. Connecting with someone requires work. Sometimes it will be easy and sometimes it will be hard. You will never truly know what the work is going to be like until you choose to make the effort.
Ultimately, if we all want to move forward, I think it is imperative that we get past access and move closer to connection. By really making the time and effort to get to know someone and understand their point of view, we open ourselves up to experiences that will help us learn and grow. That connection is what should drive us in our relationships even if they don't necessarily work out the way we hope they will. We will be better because of the work we did to connect and how many switchboard operators it takes to make that connection happen.
#OwnYourEpic #Connect
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