Worldly Wisdom Wednesday – The Way of Communication
Posted By Randy on October 17, 2012
Growing up, I was always ahead of my contemporaries in my skills with the written and spoken word. To my great fortune, that gift was recognized and cultivated by a succession of exceptional Teachers. While I can’t pin down the date beyond the certainty that I was still in elementary school, I remember a day of epiphany. One of many I’ve had so far, this one respecting the power of words, and the awesome responsibility they place upon those who wield them.
On that day, and in a flash of insight that made itself felt both mentally and physically, I came to the realization that, at my whim, I could influence the way another person felt or thought, in the short or long term, with the mere placement of a punctuation mark. The choice of one word over another, or their simple juxtaposition. When speaking, to one person or a group of any size, I could conjure even greater effect by combining words with the supporting expressions of intonation, body posture, gestures, and eye contact. As my understanding grew, so did my power, and with that the Spirit of the Thing Itself revealed new secrets to me in the form of timing, rhythm, the use of humour, and the all powerful pause.
Words are sounds uttered for the purpose of conveying meaning. When a word is written down it appears as a physical representation – a symbol – that carries the same meaning as when it is spoken. Embedded in the form of the symbol are instructions as to what sound is to be made when speaking it. Words are the Tools by which ideas are passed, one wielder to another. Their meaning and the rules of their application, spoken and written, are called Language – a subset of the greater, all encompassing methodology of Communication, which is itself a subset of the Way of the Wild.
Every creature in Nature must communicate, most importantly with those of its own kind, but only of slightly lesser importance is the requirement to do so with others, and the difference between the two is merely a matter of depth. Communication between like kind must encompass the full range of living. It will vary in complexity with the complexity of the organism’s needs, but at its basis will be the need to find a mate and procreate, as well as to define and express intention to defend domain. Communication with others of unlike kind may, in some cases, be as simple as a defensive display. This is in play when a Dog bares its teeth at you, a Bird swoops repeatedly at your head as you approach its nest, or a tiny jumping Spider raises its body with audaciously extended forelegs aimed at the tip of a pointing human finger.
Communication is at its most powerful when all extraneous noise is stripped away. Think on this.
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