No one likes to think of themselves as boring.
How do we not only become more interesting people but have other people consider us to be interesting? If you’re a blogger, how do people see you when they read your blog? How do you make your blog more interesting?
A post by Tony Sheng caught my eye a couple of days back. I tracked the information that interested me in his post back to this post by Russell Davies.
Russell gives a number of suggestions on how to become a more interesting person. Some of his suggestions include taking a photo every day and posting it to a photo sharing site, reading a magazine you’ve never read before every week, collecting something, making something, reading and a couple of other ideas. I recommend you go to his post to let him flesh out the details.
One of the ones I love is his idea of sitting in a coffee shop or cafe for an hour each week to listen to other people’s conversations, take notes and blog about it. He says, Take little dips in other people’s lives. Listen to their speech patterns and their concerns. Try and get them down on paper. (Don’t let them see. Try not to get beaten up.) Don’t force it, don’t hop from table to table in search of better eavesdropping, just bask in the conversations that come your way.
While I pick up bits and pieces of conversations around me all the time, it’s been a long time since I purposely set out to gather gems from others in that way. I remember a time when I travelled into the city and sat down in the main pedestrian mall with the simple purpose of eavesdropping. I sat with a friend on a bench that backed onto a couple of other benches and together we just soaked up the atmosphere as other people came and went. Wonderful.
Admittedly it might sound a little creepy but it’s a great way of staying in touch with the lives and thoughts of people outide your regular circles. I think I need to make time to grab a coffee in a crowded cafe sometime soon.
Are there things you do to keep life interesting and to help make you a more interesting person? Do you have unusual hobbies or passions? Do you purposely step out of your comfort zone to keep growing personally? When was the last time you were really daring? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please click the comment link below this post and join the conversation.
Posted by Rodney Olsen
Technorati Tags: Interesting People – Cafe – Blogging
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Hi Rodney,
Thanks for the link! Funny stuff that post about how to be interesting. One of these days, I will try the eavesdropping idea too…. haha
I like listening to others peoples conversations! I figure if its truly private they would not be talking about it in a place where the person near them can here. On the other side of the coin – I bet I’ve entertained quite a few people with some of mine!
BTW, Rodney – you are a very interesting person!
I’m quite boring really – techno-geek. Normally it doesn’t worry me, but when you’re supposed to talk onair about things that happen to you, and nothing ever really happens…
Well, most people see me as quite boring, and I don’t really see any reason to disagree with them.
I’ve taken up reading “Australian Heritage” magazine. Initially this was out of a personal interest in Aussie history, but I have found that it has also sparked some very satisfying conversations.
I am a massive fan of the old harmless eavesdrop. I used to travel a fair distance on the train to work and some of my most interesting blog posts definitely came out of that time.
Love the idea – and the other ideas in these posts!
And hey, even if you don’t get a good conversation you end up having had a latte, there’s nothing to lose!