Sometimes, and certainly when it comes to talking story, those simple questions we call “small talk” are the best ones for keeping you socially connected to people. They can lead to great conversations. In the very least, they comfort you with the knowledge that life is not a solo proposition; they are warmly connecting.
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For instance, while sitting with my coffee this morning I sent off one of those emails that are family blasts. I have three brothers and one sister, all married and with families of their own, and is the case with my own two in-college kids, I can’t personally visit any of them (or my mom) unless I hop on a plane. So my email simply asked, “What’s new with you?”
It’s nice to let the people you care about know that you are interested in their lives; and the niceness karma comes back to you tenfold” I love getting their responses back.
So, dear readers, send out your own ‘Ohana (family) email blast, and then, if you like, let’s talk story here too: What’s new with you?
New with me? My tweeting on Twitter. I’m not always the earliest adopter, but I eventually find my way” so you can also let me know about what’s new with you there… you’ll find me @rosasay
Initially I didn’t really “get it.” But now, I am finding that Twitter can be a great new way to talk story with people, and I would agree with Tom Landini (whom I learned about in a tweet from Angela Maiers) when he says,
“I’m not sure, though, that the most interesting question is ‘what are you doing?’ Much more useful to me is ‘what’s got your attention right now?’”
So much is about where you give that gift of your attention, isn’t it.
Thank you very much for this gift of yours just now :)
~ Rosa
Rosa,
I agree, Twitter has great karma. It has been an incredible tool to share stories, resources, and connections that I never thought possible. I am finding this quick, small talk has ignited some of the most powerful conversations. It is definitely worth the attention!
Angela, I must say that the amount of reading (and sharing) you do is absolutely amazing, and your aloha shines brightly on Twitter. You are a web-goodness heat-seeking missile!
Aloha Rosa,I am a licensed massage therapist I have been practicing on and off for 8 years in Central new york. This 6 months I have been helping my mom with her pain by massaging her back whenever she needed it. She has recently passed away 3 months ago. her lose has been a big one in our family. But if any good has come from her lose is to help others with pallitaive masssge, for those who suffer as she did for too long. I am trying to develope, a massage therapy business called Kuleana Pono Massage Therapy. I am from hawaiian decent but the meaning of kuleana Pono was beyond me here in Central New York. I learned about it from my Aunty Lani She lives in Kamuela Hawaii, and I thought that this is what I want to name my business. This can be in rememberance of my mom. To go to those who need help. “I can take resposibility to make right” What I ask from you, if you could is pray for my ability to help others and to be successful and to give back. Mahalo for this web site. Jeneen Uilani Todd
Aloha Jeneen, mahalo for sharing your story. I am sorry to hear of your mom’s passing, for your love for her can be heard and felt so clearly in what you have written. It sounds to me that she lives within you and always will, perhaps most notably as time goes by, in your mana‘o now with Kuleana and Pono. Here are two links to my recent writings on those values: Pono (http://tinyurl.com/63he6z) was our value study at MWAC this past January, and Kuleana (http://tinyurl.com/ynp5ru) followed in February. I am sure you will be successful in the giving back you want to do with these values supporting you.
I am a Australian Business Coach and I love your site, I am currently giving away Free information on my site as well.
Kind Regards
Wally Barnier
http://www.ignitioncoaching.com
Aloha Wally, good to meet you. The Ho‘ohana Community is alive and well there in Australia ”“ our BIG Big Island! You are likely to meet a few of your neighbors here as you keep reading. Mahalo for introducing yourself.
Hi Rosa!
You know me on twitter as mia123456. Twitter
is down so I thougth to read more about your work. This is amazing, you have written the book I have always wanted to read! Will order it as soon as I got my stuff here at the university done.
Love your spirit;
Mia
Aloha Mia! I was disappointed today to find that Twitter was down, but this is a wonderful benefit from the glitch there! I am thrilled that Managing with Aloha resonates with you.
I know your work at university has been rather intense lately, and I am so happy to know that you feel I give you a needed break at times :)
Rosa,
I just found your post as a referring site in my server log. So thanks for that, and thanks especially for the quote. BTW – I’m @tommyl on Twitter, AND on Friendfeed. If you haven’t tried FF, let me recommend it for its commenting feature. That can really get (and keep) the conversation going. (And it’s not always going down!)
Tom Landini
Aloha Tom, you’re welcome :) Twitter going down isn’t that bad occasionally… we all need to get our work done sometime!
Aloha Rosa! You have made talking story even more of a joy for me! It’s so wonderful to have you on Twitter and I learn from and enjoy your warm discussions and thoughtful insights on living life to the fullest. I never logged into Twitter today and I missed it but I had a wonderful start to the week. I met up with a Tweep for lunch (our first meeting) and enjoyed talking story in person.
Talking Story and a JJL Twitter Soiree
Okay, I cannot write about talking story in a short post. It’s Saturday: You’ve got some time, right? Got a tweet from the ever-traveling Starbucker yesterday: “@rosasay, I gather you are liking this Twitter thing – that makes two of
Digital Learning and Choosing Your Learning Communities
Our April theme of Digital Learning has illustrated something quite clearly for me: Whatever Digital Learning we choose will also determine the conversations we have with our globally scattered friends and neighbors, and how we have them. Conversely, y…
Aloha Karen! Well I certainly am tickled pink that you fit in a visit here today, for we did miss you at the Twitter water cooler earlier, so mahalo nui.
Karen the way I engage with Twitter is a result of watching others in action there, and you’ve been one I learn from: I must say that you have a conversational pace at times that dazzles me, and your joyful mood there is always so infectious. I am not at all surprised to hear you had a Tweep meetup today, and am looking forward to when we can make that happen one day.
Dear Rosa, Aloha Rosa! I just wanted to thank you so much again for your kind response on my new blog. I am still trying to work the dashboard at WordPress and then was wondering how do I read my Twitter friends’ blogs more easily? Then a friend introduced me to Google reader–and wa la!–a light has gone on. Like Twitter for the blogs, so I signed up for you and clicked here and just wanted to get something off to you. And though I still don’t know trackback, etc I am hoping this will get forwarded to your email. (Though with all the easy access between twitter, blogs or igoogle, email is harder and harder to get to!)
When you have time, could you send me a good link about what “mahalo” means. It is inseparable to me from Rosa now.
Liz
Aloha Liz, I am so excited for you, for I remember my early days of blogging and what a wild ride it was! That certainly answers my question here, “What’s new with you?” in a big way.
For you to associate mahalo for me is such a compliment, thank you. Literally translated, mahalo is our word for “thank you,” however as a Hawaiian value it means to live your life in a manner of thankfulness for all the elements which make the gift of your life most precious to you; to live with thankfulness is to honor life itself.
This blog, Talking Story, has become somewhat of my playing place currently, and as you can see from the date of this posting, it can lie in waiting for me at times to return to it (and get my act together in practicing mahalo here!) I definitely do feel mahalo for Talking Story, for this blog also represents my history, as the first one I had ever attempted. Four years later, it certainly has proven to be a good teacher, for I continue to love blogging.
I primarily am blogging at Managing with Aloha Coaching within my value of the month program there, and Mahalo was our value of the month this past November. Here are some links:
— Day One Essay on Mahalo within the November 2007 value study that month
— Complete index of articles on Mahalo now on http://www.ManagingWithAloha.com
I will email this to you as well Liz, so you are sure to see it. This month on MWAC we are working on a value study with Ha‘aha‘a, the Hawaiian value of humility.
Pretty cool the way you found me here Liz, for I don’t have Talking Story mentioned on Twitter or on MWAC, and it’s been a while since it showed up on my Tumblr! Mahalo to your learning of Google Reader for that!
So one last note in that regard: One of the big reasons I started the Tumblr was to aggregate all my feeds there for subscribers who want just one feed for everything I write instead of several individual ones. If you prefer to do that, click on that Ho‘ohana Aloha FeedBurner headline animator that is at the end of this post.
I have also subscribed to your new blog Liz, and will be reading eagerly!