I use to be very selective about subjects to talk with family. For example 'sexual matters' with my family was never discussed because it seemed not an issue at the time. Now I make a point of talking about everything and anything with my friends/my family and people I meet in general. I make an effort even if you do not find it easy to talk about it. The more I force myself to talk about things I would have never dreamed of talking about, I do more so now and I feel better for it.
Well, a gentleman never kisses and tells. A notion that my circle of boastful contemporaries seems to be at odds with. Also, remember: "Give every man thy ear, but few thy tongue." Meaning, for my purposes, be a hoarder of gossip, not its spreader. When people discover that what they tell you doesn't come around to bite them in the ass, they are all the more likely to tell you the juicy details in the future.
there's really nothing i find 'difficult' to talk about, though there are some that i choose not to... such as my 'old life' and my children and late ex-husbands... a slight difference perhaps, but a valid one, imo...
It depends on the circumstances and who I'm talking to. There are relatively few people I talk to 'about anything', and I guess that can be a good thing. Time makes it easier to talk about some stuff too.
I suppose something I find difficult to discuss is religion. I'm not a religious person and it just makes me uncomfortable to talk about that sort of thing.
Basically I can talk about blood that I see at work or even bleed myself and be fine. I actually talked to a member of my girlfriends family today over dinner about two bad GSW victims. We talk about how they looked, and what happened to them medically. Now if I go to a college pre med lecture and they talk about the circulatory system and I feel sick.
Religion is the most personal of subjects because it deals with how we each reconcile our own existence to the fundamental issues of life, death, truth, virtue, morality etc. You'd think most people would be comfortable discussing their system of belief, but the opposite seems to be true. Followers of many persuasions are required to study and attain a deep knowledge of their creed and to live strictly by its rule. Others aren't—particularly those religions that have traditionally prevailed in our western societies. Talking about religion with someone who professes a profound belief in a system of philosophy about which they know virtually nothing is a very delicate thing indeed. Social convention has pervaded a 'quasi-taboo' stigma around the subject for that very reason. Add to that the fact that many people tend to be subjective about these issues and that 'feelings' are often the fundamental basis of their conviction and you have a veritable can of worms. I don't have a problem talking politics, If people don't know what they're talking about they will make themselves look silly. Their problem. But religion is different, and there are ironies in life that even a cynic like me would rather not uncover.
