The Loss of Charisma

The sensuality of life before technology included a time in which strangers spoke on trains, in restaurants, asked each other for directions and made conversation in passing. The play of connection, of everyday dialogue required charisma, courage and face to face attempts at contact. Today, technology removes the need for asking for directions or asking for simply questions in general.

The facts and the answers are readily available in our smart phones - totally removing the spontaneity of chance meetings and chance friendships. We mostly communicate via text and voicenote to good family and friends. This removes the need and value of charm and personality - for everything has become automated.

Technology expands our bandwidth and our access, but removes the richness afforded to connecting with those outside our immediate circle. We are less comfortable approaching someone we fancy or passing a comment that might create laughter with a passer by,

Children know instinctively the pleasure of waving at strangers - particularly when on boats, bridges, cars and bicycles: when they are in motion. There is an innate knowledge within them of the sheer joy in connecting with the world around them. They delight in dogs, horses, birds and tractors.

When do we as adults lose that natural thrill in connecting with those around us - and simply using our smiles, our playfulness and our charisma to win hearts. Instead, we isolate, we become selective and we forget how to wave, how to ask questions ou loud - like, 'why is that man's head so big?'. We forget to share our curiosity and wonder with the world around us.

The former Jain monk and environmental activist, Satish Kumar, did a 2-year walk for peace around the world by foot, with his friend E.P. Manon. He took no money, no passport and no food. Instead, he was fed by strangers and given shelter along the way. Satish later remarked that if you travel with fear, you will be met by fear - if you move with love, you will find love.

So, it is vital that we trust our natural instrinct for connection, that at times, we step outside what feels safe and embrace the natural connections around us. The charisma of speech, of asking for directons, wisdom and resonance, is an essential thing to cultivate and take care of. It is natural to wave, to express curiosity and to fall on chance connections.

Trust you intuition for connection: step outside what is known and forge resonance with those around you. Technology is a wonderful tool but do not negect the power of speech, natural charisma, and the need for spontaneous face-to-face interactions. There is so much beauty in chance encounters - so often built on an exchange of information and connection. Some may just mark you throughout a lifetime.