p.s. BTW, there is nothing wrong with returning to the safety net of your own little 'island'. Be grateful you have that. Here is a story I wrote on my blog as an example:
" The Broom Closet
Isn’t it a wonder, despite the known fact that human beings are primarily social creatures who would go insane if kept in solitary confinement for too long, still go to great lengths to find a solitary place to ‘get away from the world’?
Life, for the most part, is chaotic at best, regardless of the countless times we attempt to keep our world in check. Amidst the tumult of dis-array from this fallen, degenerate world we live in, we have ingrained in us by our Creator, an unquenchable desire to maintain orderliness.
Nevertheless, many of us are in denial stating that we like the mess we live under; others give up and ‘turn a blind eye’ or ‘shut the door on it’. Others say they find order ‘boring’ and that mess ‘gives them something to do’, or even defines who they are!
We can define clutter in two basic ways:
1. JUNK
2. CHARACTER
We can define mess as:
1. JUST PLAIN MESS!!
so if mess defines you, then there is something seriously wrong because....
However, whatever category we may place it, getting back to point in hand, it is still categorizing. In other words, we can’t help ourselves but to compartmentalize, categorize and conceptualize.
Therefore, we all have an insatiable need to find that ‘private space’ away from all the mayhem. Take our bedrooms for example. Many claim that as their safe haven. Signs of Skull and Crossbone ‘Keep Out’ blaring on some teenage room doors, or more demurely “……’s Room”, or perhaps, God forbid in my opinion, parent’s retreats at the other end of the house.
Let’s consider also the bathroom…..it is supposed to be a private place. Some have posters or timetables up on back of the toilet door; others, a stack of magazines or comic books or even a novel. (Just how much time can one spend on the toilet!) But then mothers, on the other hand are considered a different breed when it comes to bathrooms, a foreign species that cannot be thought of as human because the moment you walk in the door and lock it behind you, there is a little voice bellowing past the wooden barrier – “Mummy” “Mum” “Mummy”!!! More often than not, the conversation has no relation whatsoever to the use of the bathroom. It is like some sort of conspiracy where kids wait until you get yourself a moment’s respite then they rob you of it. Argggh.
In highly populated societies, personal space is virtually non-existent though the need deep down is still there. This is where innovation at its best comes in, in surprisingly simple means, such as a hand-towel or blanket thrown over the head shutting out the world around you even with it merely an inch from you in reality. The younger generation opts for an IPOD, video game or GameBoy. Others a good book, a good DVD, computers, Facebook; or even their mobile phones! Others snuggle up in bed, and yet for some it is writing a blog. In movies, of all places, it is the broom closet!
Whatever it takes to transport us to a world beyond reality, a world of our own, where we can tune out from the stresses of life, somewhere we can't be found by anyone - like a toddler who hides his face with his hands and thinks no one else can see him – our very own, bona fide, custom-made, just for us Broom Closet" - BECLAK 2010.
- One trick is to dominate the conversation. You talk first (assuming you use speech) and keep hold of the conversation. Even if it is one-sided. You can read their facial expressions and body language too, if you haven't tried that already. If you cant follow their responses then, change the subject. Or you can go the other extreme and dont say anything but act as if you can hear them which I think is what you said you have been doing 'nod and smile'. If all that fails, tell everyone you sign from here on in.
