Communication

Interpretations of interpretations interpreted.

~ James Joyce

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We all communication in so many ways. 

 

Ha ha ha.  I just reread this.  Look at the typo.  I miscommunicationed.

 

Anyway, we also miscommunicate in all of those same ways.  It is easy to get a text or an email and misunderstand what someone meant.  We can't hear their tone or the noises in their heads when we read what they write.  We can't know the circumstances they are in when they are sending us a message.  Sometimes we don't even know what they mean because we don't know all the latest text lingo.

 

The same is true of letters we receive in the mail, but maybe we read those a little differently because we can see a person's handwriting.  Or maybe because letter-writing takes more time and requires effort for the sender to get the letter to the recipient...  Maybe because of that we are more forgiving?  More patient with others and with our own lack of clarity in what the sender meant?  Maybe.

 

What I really struggle with is when I misunderstand people's body language.  When I almost hit that guy on the street, was he telling me with his finger, "That was a close ONE!" or "Please wait ONE minute while I cross the street" or "Look up at the beautiful clouds"?  It's virtually impossible for me to know what he meant with a single gesture.

 

Communication is a mystery.