"What's up?"

I remember in highschool how my friends and I would greet each other in the halls. We would say something like, "What's up?" or, "How's it hangin', dude?" We didn't really expect to get the lowdown on how either of us was "really feeling", only, it was a way to say hello.

Now, in my adulthood, I find that my friends often say, "Hey, what's up?" or, "How's life treating you?". I've learned that greetings rarely change. However, once in awhile, I find a friend or they find me and ask with genuine interest, "How you are doing?" It is with these special friends that I and they, have the permission to really sit down and share our lives with one another. Thomas Merton has this really great quote, which is written out below, that speaks to these conversations. His words take such intimate conversations deeper and encourage us to ask those really insightful and meaningful questions of those we call our truest friends.

Identity
Thomas Merton

If you want to identify me,
ask me not where I live,
or what I like to eat, or
how I comb my hair;
but ask me what I am living for,
in detail, and ask me
what I think is keeping me
from living fully for
the thing I want to live for.