Listening takes time

Artwork by Maya Chen

I’m a big fan of those perpetual ongoing games. You know the ones that you can play anytime, anywhere, with anyone. There’s not really an endpoint just the objective.

I made up one called, “Name That Phenomenon”. The fun is that you pose a phenomenon like Occam’s Razor (the least likely answer is the correct one) and anyone who wants to entertain the posing person (me, usually) comes up with a name for the phenomenon.

Some phenomenons I came up with:

1. losing something but then finding it the second you replace it
2. never bumping into someone you know until something awkward happens and then all of a sudden the room is filled with everyone you ever knew
3. never getting messages when you’re staring at your phone wanting a message, but then as soon as you’re in a movie your phone blows up
4. forgetting shortcut commands on your computer that you do all the time when you try to verbalize them
5. doing something right a hundred times until someone starts watching you.

I call that last one Sweaty Palm Syndrome. The main fun of the game is thinking of things that are relatable. Things you almost wish there was a word for so that you and the people around you could relate about something frustrating, compelling, heart-breaking; examining the human…