How are you doing today?

I have lots of thoughts and topics spinning around in my head; but not one that takes center stage: "stop apologizing and set yourself free"; self-discipline; searching for what on social media?; what time is my appointment today?; am I hungry?; do I have shoes that go with that dress?. . ..sorry I digress.

Although I do need to choose shoes to go with that dress before my appointment. Ah, mind clutter.

Just how much information can we take in and disperse in a day? In this age of ciphering the story of our life into a two minute "elevator speech", the quick fix, the fast food, the first impression, the tweet. . .I think we losing the art of communicating. Some days I feel like Jack Webb - just the facts mam (Dragnet to you youngsters). We are at the bottom of the pyramid of basic needs; we don't have time to fully communicate how we feel about a circumstances, just that the circumstance has occured.

We've managed to reduce our likes and dislikes to a simple click on a thumbs-up icon. Last week as I was riding in an elevator, someone politely asked "how are you doing today?" I replied, "I feel like crap." He automatically said, "good" and then stopped himself and stared at me with the most confused look on his face. I could see him trying to assess this situation. He was merely trying to be polite and now I have ventured to engage him in a conversation. His eyes darted back and forth to the numbers on the elevator and choked out a barely audible "I'm sorry to hear that." I smiled and chuckled which seemed to give him some relief. He tripped over himself trying to get out of the elevator.

My random thought today is that I will truly engage another person and find out how they "really feel".

Wish me luck.