We rightly tend to associate being ‘interesting’  with achieving difference from the norm:  

with being able to serve up some unusual  and intriguing stories and ideas. 

But what might be the best  way to lay our hands on these?

One prestigious thesis tells us that we should try  our best to root out new and well-reviewed books  

and articles, travel to remote places and befriend  people who are prominent in the arts and business.

This correctly latches on to something -  that we should aim to be different - but  

it entirely overlooks that, before we’ve ever  read a single book, gone to any foreign country  

or met any Nobel Prize laureates,  we are all compellingly different  

anyway. The problem is that we just don’t  allow ourselves to come across as such.

To get a taste for this  pre-existing level of originality,  

imagine if we placed a microphone in any of our  minds and listened closely in on the chatter. 

We would quickly find the most surprising,  and authentically gripping information:  

we’d realise that we were attracted  to some very unexpected people,  

often just the sort we weren’t  supposed to have any feelings for.  

We’d realise that we had some hilariously personal  (and shocking) takes on politics and society - and  

that we didn’t agree with most of the standard  lines proposed to us by the media. Our anxieties,  

fears, hopes and excitements would show a  properly distinctive and captivating pattern. 

We are - though we try so hard  never to admit this to ourselves  

let alone anyone else - already a real character.

We understand this point in relation to  children. Every child under seven is fascinating.  

They almost never do anything interesting  in the outside world, but it’s the honest,  

uncensored way in which they report on their inner  lives that guarantees their interest. When they  

chit chat about their granny or their teacher  or their take on their dad, we’re open mouthed.

We were once fascinating too, before we  got overly worried about seeming normal. 

There are of course some things that  we should - as we grow up - take care  

not to mention to spare others hurt, but a  lot fewer than we think. When we next fear  

coming across as dull, we need only lean in  more closely on the data from our deep selves:  

we should, and the habit may require  a little conscious effort to develop,  

get in touch with what we actually believe.  What emerges may sound odd, but it is also  

liable to be hugely charming, warm-hearted  and comforting - and a lot closer to what  

people around the table deep down feel too  than what was printed in today’s newspaper.

Everyone is interesting. So-called interesting  people are simply those who’ve allowed themselves  

to listen in on and share with others a selection  of what is really going through their minds. 

They have not allowed self-hatred and  self-suspicion to block them from disclosing  

their reality. They have been confident enough to  imagine that the truth about themselves could be  

a pleasure for others to hear - and, with a few  obvious caveats, it almost certainly will be.