We all want the same thing.
Recently, I saw an advertisement on Instagram for a ring to be worn on the hand signifying you are single and ready to mingle: light green for straight, light purple for gay. They were touted as the newest social experiment. It’s a great idea, right!
Don’t we all want connection? And I’m not just talking about the romantic kind. It seems we’ve lost the art of striking up random conversations. This can certainly be blamed on the “phone in our face” epidemic, but let’s stop using that as an excuse. It’s time to become aware and do something about it!
As my mom and I were walking the Jersey shore last week, we passed a very handsome man. If we had been wearing our colored rings, it would have been easier to engage. Instead we checked each other out and kept going, not knowing how to begin.
A colored ring is a great start, but there is another idea that would further support an exchange. Years ago, my wasband and I dreamed up and worked on a bracelet with interchangeable icons. The icons represented things that were most important to that person’s current life and could serve as an intro to a potentially deeper, beyond how’s the weather, conversation.
So picture this, my mom and I are walking down the beach and I see he is wearing a lime green ring. I wave my ring in the air and we have a laugh. Then we check out each other’s bracelets and share a bit about ourselves. It’s a green light flashing, “Yes, I am open to being approached for a friendly chitchat.”
Again, this could be done with anyone simply for the purpose of meeting someone new and making a lively and meaningful connection. Perhaps there should be a third ring color! Imagine an elderly man sitting on a bench in the mall waiting for his wife. This man is wearing a blue ring indicating he is open to a chat. I’d sit down with that old man in a heartbeat and listen to his bracelet story. Bonding with our elderly is an untapped treasure!
Taking it a step further, my girlfriends and I often discuss the need and desire to start a co-ed group meant to build and support relationship skills.
I envision a group that meets in person with an on-line option. The gathering would begin with simple chair yoga and meditation to get grounded in body and mind, followed by a heart to heart walk and talk assignment. You’d pull a name from the hat, a question would be posed, and off you’d go. Once reunited, we’d debrief as a group in a fun and safe way.
It would not be intentionally designed as a matchmaking forum, but rather a way to grow our collective ability to meet relationship in healthier and more meaningful ways.
“Despite the fact that relationships are potentially the source of our greatest joy, and love the fullest and most positive human experience, relationships are, as they say, complicated.”
N. Fisher
We all want the same thing.
Dive deep!
Patty