12/17/2024
Allergic to Small Talk with Jess Janz
Picture this: you’re at a holiday party where you only know the host. Everyone else is a stranger to you but that’s okay because your goal for 2025 is to meet new people.
Think about the top 5 questions you’d ask strangers at this party. Go ahead and list them out right now. Do any of them involve asking about their career? Did you know that one of the first topics we discuss with a complete stranger is what we do for a living?
When we do this, we may or may not realize but we’re indirectly communicating that our jobs make up one of, if not the greatest value, of our identity. To which we start down the path of figuring out what we each other “do” so that we can determine who has the better job, makes more money, and has more quote on quote status, so that in turn we establish who is more superior in the conversation.
This song and dance is inevitable. It happens to all of us. It’s learned behaviour and in a way it makes us feel safe.
Our guest today, Jess Janz, has also been the victim of being asked pointless and, at times, insensitive questions that restrict rather than foster meaningful connection. Jess is a writer, community facilitator, and the creator of Dinner With Strangers, an innovative event series that brings together people from diverse walks of life to share stories over a meal. Her work explores identity, connection, and what truly binds us as humans.
In this episode, we explore the art of asking meaningful questions, explore the impact of putting work aside and putting ourselves out there, and explore the transformative power of a reciprocal and deep conversation.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/56l8AwteZVwdYyATzW8LnP?si=7VB_pfApQCaEP1hX6kXmlw
