Ever email a friend and, due to their incorrect interpretation of what you sent, that friend turned into a
foe? Ever receive a text message and get instantly perturbed because, lo and behold, the actual meaning didn't really come across exactly
crystal clear on your 50x50 pixel screen?
Some say the art of communication is becoming endangered. Others argue it's already dead. Well, at least that's what they
write anyway.
The problem? No one
talks anymore.
"Wait a minute," you say. "I talk to my friends all the time!" Yeah, in emails, facebook chatting, text messaging...
Ah, but we're missing the most important ingredient to the art of communication, the part that helps us
see the truer meaning behind the words: body language.
It's easy to see who's attention you have and who's you don't when you're talking face to face...or rather when you're talking and they are looking at their cell phone, waiting for it to ring, or (how many times has
this happened to you) they are texting someone
while you are talking!
Oh, yeah. Body language
does say it all.
But, what happens when you take away the face to face and there's a misunderstanding? How often has an otherwise easily understood meaning gotten mistaken and someone is left with the question: what the hell was
that supposed to mean?!
Years ago - when the web was new - it was awesome to
talk with my cousin who rarely picked up the phone, thousands of miles away, yet answered an email from time to time. However, since she
was so new to the technology she didn't quite understand the
language yet. One false move on my part - adding a
(sp) after a couple words I wasn't sure I had spelled correctly - and
wham! My four little characters were considered as an insult (namely, she interpreted it as though I was saying that
she couldn't spell) and she didn't talk to me - email
or on the phone - for months.
Petty? Yes. But this is only
one small innocent example of the many misunderstandings I've had in my life due to these non-verbal
miscommunications types (no pun intended). I won't entertain you with the more
brutal ones...some days I feel as though I'm
still rebuilding
those bridges.
Anyway...
So this example brings up an interesting point! Maybe the art of communication isn't actually
dead yet. Maybe we have merely created a new way
of communicating! And body language really isn't left out of our new language either...
Emoticons!Smilies!Italics!just to name a few...
Emails, texts, and chatting may be just simply characters on a screen, but they can sure become an imaginative fun way of talking with eachother ;) If it wasn't for this simple yet prolific way of communicating, I wouldn't have been able to get back into contact with numerous friends that I've had all over the world (yep, I'm a military brat!) Any time of the day, all I have to do is pop onto my facebook page, check my email, or text a friend, and
wham! I'm
talking with them, wherever they may be, whatever they may be doing. It's so much easier nowadays to be contact with just about anyone! Even those whom you may never actually
see again...
Everyone has their own way of staying in touch. Some of us prefer face-to-face conversations. Some of us just don't have the time or the energy to talk to anyone after a long busy day. And some of us are land somewhere in between. But no matter how you do it - in person or via your blackberry - make sure your
body language is speaking loud and clear.
Oh. And if there
is a misunderstanding on one or both of your parts...don't let it go unsaid. We're human after all.
No one is perfect...
No one.
;)
...I just realized that it's sooooo different from my current draft due to all the edits and my writing is so much better now that I don't want anyone to read the first draft! My grandmother was in town for the holidays and took a few pages and started reading..."I can't tell what's going on, it's all over the place..." yeah...that's when I decided it was time to burn it 
.
