My mid-life crisis has arrived

I’m into this new thing called “calling people on the phone.”

It’s actually an old thing, but I just rediscovered it. 

Pretty wild!

Here’s how it works…

I look up someone’s phone number…

Then I call it.

Crazy, right?

Sometimes I have these numbers in my contacts.

Sometimes I find them in our membership files. 

And sometimes… I just ask the person for their phone number via email. 

Then I call it.

It’s f’ckin nuts!

I mean, think of it…

You’re sitting there, in your own world, doing god knows what…

When, suddenly, your cell phone… starts RINGING!

And, this pops up…

Our brains are no longer wired for this!

(Plus, maybe I should adjust my emoji to look less pensive?)

Yet, about 60% of the time people actually answer the call. 

And, 100% of the time, it’s a great conversation.

If they don’t answer I leave (get this!)…

A voice mail.

So retro!

Believe me, I’m as surprised as anyone that this is my new thing. 

Until now I was in the same little “dome of privacy” as the rest of the world. 

Suspect (affronted even) when someone would dare think to call me out of the blue. 

The gall of it. 

But now I’m that guy. 

Could this be my midlife crisis?

I was expecting a convertible…

Or hair plugs.

But, instead I’m spontaneously calling people on the phone?

Like some kind of psychotic extrovert?

Super lame.

But, I’m loving it. 

There’s nothing like the connection of two people talking to each other in real-time. 

All the little pauses, and stutters, the vocal inflections of certain words…

That’s… humanity on display. 

I like to describe good copywriting as “A two-way conversation, written from one side.”

Meaning, it’s our job to anticipate what the reader is thinking and how they are reacting…

As they read. 

(Just like I’m doing right now)

Maybe give this “calling people” a try for yourself?

Scroll through your contacts and the first one that hits you as someone who’d like to hear from you…

Hit dial.

It’ll feel scary the first time. 

Just do it. 

And immerse in the conversation.

I’m telling you, it’s fun. 

And it will help your writing. 

Let me know how it goes.