Friday 23 January 2009

Attention spam

I had a long walk with my sister last night. I had just been having a "vigorous exchange of conflicting views" with my father and I needed to cool off. We got onto the topic of how much of ourselves we share with others. I share a lot usually, but I try to tread carefully if it concerns someone other than myself. My sister doesn't share as much. In fact, she barely shares anything for fear of criticism.

It seems my efforts to talk about what's been happening in my life to encourage interaction, and maybe foster some sharing in return, have had the opposite effect to their intention.

It seems to her that my thoughts rarely stray into the realm of other people, unless they directly effect myself in a notable way. Or at least this was how my discussion was interpreted. I don't see my sister often, so it's often necessary to catch up on quite a lot that has happened, but my offering of information has made her more timid. She suggested that in comparison to mine, her issues seemed trivial. Hmmm...

I must try to make my life sound less interesting.

In all seriousness, I must try to strike a balance between gently nudging for information and leading by example. My short attention span adds to the problems when I cut her off mid-sentence.

Catch ya!

TheSovietChairman

2 comments:

  1. I reckon you and your dad fight too much lately... not that it's any of my business.

    So basically your sister is calling you selfish? ... or just pointing out your very short attention span/memory? It's interesting that you say she's timid - I didn't think that of her.

    It's an interesting position, when you don't see your family very often. It becomes either that you talk too much because you're trying to tell them all that has happened, or you just stop trying, and retreat into silence. Can't go halfway.

    I've been called selfish all my life, but I know it's true, so I don't give a damn any more. Haha. No, not really ... I know I can be selfish and so I have to try harder to be a good sister. Good daughter on the other hand, is a lot less easy to do. But sometimes when it gets to that point, I really don't give a damn.

    See? Self-centred me has turned this into a rumination about me all over again

    :)

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  2. "...I really don't give a damn."

    I like that. :)

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