You have heard this sentence many times in your life and probably used it yourself equally as many. These words can mean nothing – or they can mean everything. You can never be sure until it’s time to talk.

Most of us automatically think that  “we need to talk” means something negative: “Oh, no….  I don’t like the sound of that…” “Oh my God. What is it now?” “Gee! What did I do this time…?”

Whatever the real reason behind these words, it’s safe to say that they easily lead to #assumptions. And assumptions lead to #projections. These two create a chaos that can be held responsible  for most of the misunderstandings and conflicts in the world. 

But guess what? We do need to talk. About something important, something that really matters. Not just to me, or to you, but to all of us. To the whole of mankind. Even before COVID-19, we Finns have walked the dark streets of Helsinki like a flock of ghosts, looking inward at our own petty thoughts. What are we humans so afraid of that we don’t dare to see – or to be seen? Let alone heard. We can listen to the wind on Mars, but do we really ever listen to each other?

[bctt tweet=”We can listen to the wind on Mars, but do we really ever listen to each other? ” username=”GreenElephantOy”]

We need to communicate consciously, because the ability to understand others and to be understood is the path beyond tolerance and towards embracing differences. This creates acceptance and collaboration. We can create a peaceful multicultural planet, where #respect, #equality and first and foremost #equity is commonplace.

[bctt tweet=”The ability to understand others and to be understood is the path beyond tolerance and towards embracing differences.” username=”GreenElephantOy”]

Campaign to End Loneliness, Be More Us

As kids, most of us were taught not to ever talk to strangers. And, when we grow up we are expected to talk to strangers – all the time.  And not just to talk to them but to be able to work with them, interview them, serve them, present to them, sell to them. The list goes on and on.

I challenge you to talk to one new person per day. Someone in the office, in the shop or lunch restaurant. But how can we connect quickly and respectfully with strangers? By being empathic (Green) and putting all of your focus on the other.  Try it out, what’s the worst that can happen? They might answer with a smile.

Let’s not be all strangers. Together we can be better.  But before that, we need to talk.