You get on a cross-country flight and sit down.
Next to you is an empty seat.
You stare at it, knowing it’s soon to be occupied and the occupant will greatly determine the next five hours of your life.
Will they be loud? Obnoxious? Drunk? Just plain old stupid? One thing you can almost guarantee, they won’t be Stephen Hawking.
I am in New Zealand on vacation, at a lodge in the North Island. It’s a beautiful lodge in a beautiful country and there’s a group of six people at the table next to me with absolutely nothing of interest to say. But that doesn’t stop them from saying it loudly. As the wine flows, the volume only increases.
Eric Clapton said, “One of the most beneficial things I’ve ever learned is how to keep my mouth shut.” And that’s coming from a guy who is one of the greatest guitarists to ever live and probably has a few things worth listening to.
We need a rule. If you have nothing to say, you don’t talk. Everyone will benefit.
We don’t have that rule because because the world has become overrun by self-important people. Everybody thinks every word coming out of their mouth is great oratory. The lives of their children are the most fascinating lives being lived on earth. Their dogs do things no other dog has ever done or ever will do. (And I LOVE dogs!)
I was at a Hobbiton (where they shot the Lord of the Rings films) and saw a person take about 200 selfies in half an hour. Could you imagine if Viggo Mortensen or Elijah Wood were there? Their cell phone would have exploded! Remember when photographs were special things that documented the important moments of our lives? Now it seems even the most boring person on the planet has 1,000 photos of themselves.
If we don’t choose our words carefully, it devalues them. If we take a photo of every single moment of our lives, how do we identify the important ones?
I don’t have the answers. But I know these questions are worth asking.
Art Gurwitz
Founder, Areena
Author
