Surface conversations last about a minute with me. Time is precious and I refuse to use it engaging in meaningless talk. Learning about people in a deeper sense is an art form, in a way. And I do love the arts!

People and their life stories are fascinating to me. My insatiable curiosity is one of the reasons I podcast. Everyone wants to be seen, heard and understood. Sharing their stories publicly allows others to open up a bit, knowing complete strangers will learn about them. It requires courage.

And speaking of the arts, one of my favorite bands is the Goo Goo Dolls. In their song, “Iris,” the lyrics are “And I don’t want the world to see me, ‘cause I don’t think that they’d understand. When everything’s meant to be broken, I just want you to know who I am.” Did you catch it? One man who desires to hide from the world, but wants to be fully known by one person. It’s a beautiful, telling lyric.

Try to get to know people for who they are, not what they can do for you. Be relational, not transactional…