Communication and YOU.

After we started this blog, I learnt a lot of things. One of which was the power of communication. When you spend so much time with words, they start to bewilder you. We’re no writers, but words have become our best friends. Though a blog requires a lot of effort, time and maintenance, at the end of the day, it gives us a different feeling. To me, it is a feeling of satisfaction, peace, joy and somewhere, a little bit of curiosity. It has left me to wonder about how strings of words come together to form a precious bundle of thoughts, unique and alive. 

Communication is an art form. Rather, communication is the reason why we have such a variety of art forms. Humans need to get their running thoughts somewhere. For most, it’s the paintbrush that acts as a mediator. For others, it’s the keyboard. The list is endless. It’s almost liberating to pen down thoughts, some of which are arbitrary like these. This blog is here to bring to your perception, the importance of the words you use, how powerful they are, and how you could better express them. Mostly, it is for all of you who wish to communicate with yourself, know yourself better. 

Golden Words 

I remember a big chart stuck on a pinboard in of the classrooms in my school. It was called “Golden Words”. It was beautifully decorated and had words like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ written on it with a fancy style of calligraphy. Why exactly are they called “Golden words”? They don’t seem to have the physical attributes that the name suggests. Well, I do not know the factual answer to that. What I do know are the reasons my mind has given me. i) The person saying these words has a heart of gold ( is very kind ). ii) These words bring about joy, a sense of care and mannerism and that is as precious as gold. Saying such words has been taught to us since forever. But do they make a difference in the real world? People should be fine without these words. You see, these words have power. Compare these sentences, which ought to have the same meaning. 

Give me the bottle of water

Could you please pass towards me the bottle of water? 

There is a stark difference of the kind of inference you derive from each sentence. Adding just a please makes such a difference in itself. 

I absolutely adore these words. "Treat like you want to be treated". When I'm just not in a great state of mind, unkind sentences and words tend to trigger the emotion of anger in me. It just results into a big mess, to summarise. So, my own habits have taught me the use of correct words. This conscious decision makes a difference. When they have such power to the world outside, and the mind of humans, we often forget to use them for ourselves. 

When we use such words for communicating in daily life, why not start telling our selves that we're worthy. Insecurities, anxiety and other issues cause most teenagers to call them selves names. "Oh I wish I was thinner." "Oh I wish my nose was smaller." Blah blah blah. Let go such horrible thoughts. If you treat yourself so, you will never be able to be comfortable in your own skin. Confidence would become a distant relative. 

That is why talking to yourself and learning more about how you tend to be is an integral step. 

This is how I maintain good communication with myself! 

Language Limits: Most Indians, including myself, speak several languages. My list includes Hindi ( my mother tongue), English (as you can see), Marathi( local language) and German(learning). Such a set results in my mind thinking in different languages. So for all bilingual/multilingual readers, feel free to write or speak in an amalgamation of languages that you can call your own. Often, I find myself describing my feelings in English, but sometimes, I find Hindi or Marathi phrases to be a little more appropriate. You’re not always bound to one language. Language is just a mediator and not the feeling. 

Knowing, listening : Thinking, learning, knowing, observing patterns and finding a similarity some where else is always a helpful area. Getting closer to your self also requires getting closer to the world.I personally experience anxiousness before any exam. This is a common phenomenon. But soon it would go up to a unhealthy level. I would curse myself of how I could have studied more. School are learning places, not places of competition. It's ok if my best is not the best. Talking to my soul sister truly helped. She observed what I couldn't! 

Honesty: Words can be a hiding place. Sometimes you think it is a surface level issue but the roots are deeper. It is already a task to listen to your mind and body, but it's even more difficult to be honest. Well this is not a pimple that can be covered up with a concealer. Your feelings have to come out but they have to be your feelings.

Questions: Don't be afraid of emotions. Untangle them. Write them down. Just get it out of your system. It only becomes messier inside. If you are open to know yourself, life will be easier. Never let impossibility overrule you. Ask yourself "What's wrong?". What's bothering you will pop out sometime. Write it down. Write everything down. The solution is in the problem itself. Sometimes you subconsciously know the solution. You just have to prove it to yourself. Just convince your mind to try. You must be feeling overwhelmed when too many questions arise. It's almost like a surprise math test. But we all know you get through it with a little bit of logic and a lot of praying. 

Communicating, language, writing - all are man made, and man required. Using these tools to better communicate with yourself will give you utmost peace. Sometimes it takes time, and growth. Sometimes you just have to read a blog!