Hello again, subscriber friend!
Because you share my interest in better conversation
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I believethat "better conversations makeabetter world."Please invite friends and co-workers to subscribe,www.conversationmatters.com
Loren Ekroth, publisher
loren@conversationmatters.com
"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other."
~Burton Hillis
3.Holy Frugality!
�Try a "friendship potluck" by getting together with friends and relatives with everyone bringing a favorite dish to share. Saves money from dining out, which can be a big budget-buster. This can be a fun evening with many culinarysssurprises.
4. What We're Reading
As one reviewer put it:"
5.Resourceville (for "Wordy People")
For you who are fascinated by words, try the
complimentary ezine, "Worldwide Words"
Sent each Saturday to at least 50,000 subscribers by e-mail
and RSS Editor: Michael Quinion, Thornbury, Bristol, UK
Subscribe: http://www.worldwidewords.org/maillist/index.htm .
6. Christmas Presence and the Gift of Listening
One of the finest, most personal gifts we can giveanother person during this season is our presence, bywhich I mean our "being present to," or "being with"another person.This gift is perhaps most poignant when given topersons who are older, infirm, or isolated. For them,one's living presence offers the possibility of connectionand validation.
As John Donne's lovely poem asserts, "No man is an island, separate from the main." Still, we observe that many people in our society and world experience the feelings of separateness. Hungry for connection, they hunger for our personal presence.Presence is not intrusive. It does not push ornudge or prod or probe. As well, presence does notjudge, or challenge, or impose. When we are present,we show up, we are aware, and we extend our awareness to the other with our eyes, our ears, and our intuitions. Presence is hospitable and welcoming. Deep attention and deep listening are the activities of true presence.When a person's presence is fully available to me
(Now as I write this I think of a Christmas in Ferrara,Italy in 1960, walking through light snow with my
Loren Ekroth �2009, all rights reserved
Loren Ekroth, Ph.D. is a specialist in human communication anda national expert on conversation for business and social life.
Contact atLoren@conversationmatters.com