I had never seen the man before in my life, and I most likely never will again. We shared a table at a local concert. In a small town, the local venue for live music provides the option of getting seats at a small table near the stage and we found ourselves at the same table that night. Conversations ensued.

We chatted before the show and a bit during the intermission. He was a long-timer in the city and engaged in the circles of social engagement, including business and government. Thirty years ago, I was fairly connected in this city because of my role at the local university. Having returned here less than a decade ago, my presence “in the city” is non-existent. Many of the names he referenced were alien to me, but the names that I cited were part of his history. It was good to reminisce.

Our topics extended beyond local contacts and included other cover bands we had seen and a variety of topics based on each other’s experiences. Our total conversation time was likely less than 15 minutes, but they were rich minutes. We shared stories, not shallow small talk.

When we parted after the concert, he said, “It is good talking to people. If you listen, you might learn something.” We shook hands and went our separate ways.

I chose to not plug my work – Listen to Life:  Wisdom in Life’s Stories – in response to his comments. I’m not much of a self-promoter that way, but I smiled and nodded to his observation. Our lives our richer if we share and listen.