Fragment No. 45

Conversations are more than words. They are bridges through which we enter other lives – and sometimes we lose our balance in the process. Every encounter leaves traces, some gentle like a breath of wind, others deep like a scar. You come as one and leave as another. Some conversations open doors to spaces you didn’t know existed. A sentence, said casually, can trigger a chain of thoughts that you can no longer stop. A look, a pause, an unspoken word can shake your own worldview. There are conversations that give you strength and those that drain you. Sometimes you emerge from a dialogue strengthened, with new ideas, a different perspective, maybe even with a spark of hope. Then again, there are encounters that sow doubts that shake the foundations of your self. Conversations are not one-way streets. You give, you take – but not always in equal measure. As a journalist, you learn to ask, to listen, to understand. But every time you listen, the listener changes. Like a mirror that not only reflects, but gets a new scratch, a new line, a new facet with every encounter. And so I emerge from every conversation a little different. Perhaps more thoughtful. Perhaps more liberated. Perhaps a little more me - or a little less.