a year of silence

1/26/14

  To cease speaking is not to cease communicating, sometimes a lot is gained by being silent.
  I was visiting a couple i know recently and found that just silently mouthing words was a very effective way of conversing. Of course, it involved more effort on their part, as they had to closely watch my mouth and decipher the words. As a consequence of this, i found myself intently staring into their faces as well. This mutual attention to countenance made the conversation a much more intimate experience.
  So much emotion is expressed in the human face. It makes me realize that we have lost a lot by making face to face contact so unnecessary in the world today. Facial expression and tell-tale vocal intonation are abandoned for the convenience of email and text messaging. We would rather employ cloying smiley faces for emotion in our electronic exchanges, than actually communicate to another human one on one and experience the real thing.
  I think many of us use text messaging as a means to do more, all at once. We are always busy trying to multi-task more into our lives. Why engage in a face to face conversation (or make a simple phone call) when you can text someone, watch t.v., work on a project and microwave dinner all at once? Technology has given us the wonderful ability to do so much and actually experience so little.
  We are no longer where we are anymore. Try looking at a sunset, a flower garden, a piece of art or one of your own children, and concentrate solely on what's in front of you. Instead of immersing yourself completely in the color, smell, taste, sound and feeling of the experience, do you find part of yourself thinking about work, what's for dinner tonight, the jerk who cut you off, how your hair looks..........or any of the millions of noisy thoughts that clutter our heads?