Silence is Golden....or is it?

OK, I'm not talking about watching your crush fall for the wrong person, like Frankie Valli and the Four Season, I'm talking about those times when you run out of things to say.  I was chatting with one of my fave friends today about how friendships change after agency life. You see, at the agency we worked hard, played hard, and much like a sorority, became incredibly close with the people we worked with. Every day all of your friends were there to catch up with, gossip with, b^#ch with....and then when you left work you could grab a pint and do it all over again.

Since leaving the agency - along with several of my closest faves - there does seem to be a bit lacking in the conversation these days. No longer do we have the insanity of agency life to unite us (thank goodness - we DON'T need it anymore) but we also don't have the fodder that created so much fun conversation either. You know, the crazy requests from vendors, partners, team members and clients alike. The last minute, we need this NOW, in a next-to-impossible venue, and with greater success than the last time you did it, kind of stuff. Yes, sigh, it all made for excellent drama and fun conversation. Conversation that made our lives seem very important ... more than once we thought our agency would be an excellent locale for a reality show. Opening scene would definitely have to involve tears in the bathroom.

Now that all of that is gone - I work from home, my friends have moved on to corporate jobs where there's seemingly less drama - it leaves me wondering how to break the bad habits of talking about work and rediscovering what makes us all friends. We used to be able to talk about work until the cows came home but now, it's the rest of our lives that are the focus of our convos and I must say, sometimes my life just ain't that exciting. Yes, this is what I wanted by leaving the agency, but I've lost the art of thinking my life is interesting. Whoopeee five weddings, work trips, and family visits..... It is all interesting when I think about it, but I've forgotten how to talk about it all because for the last five years most of my conversation has been b@#$*hing. So what do I do? I can no longer fill up a conversation with talk of work - there's nothing to complain about and I don't work with anyone so there's no stress.

People it's time the art of conversation came back into my life! Maybe a beer will help?