Communication

"You can never NOT communicate." -Brother Williams

Communication is such an important aspect of the relationships that we form. People often attribute communication (or lack thereof) as a reason for stress within relationships. It is a complicated thing and I am unsure if I can even articulate what I have learned in a way that would help someone to understand how they can communicate better. But I sure am going to try.

There are three main types of communication that we discussed in class. words, tone, and non-verbal. Everyone communicates in different ways. For some people, tone means nothing and they trust words completely. Some people really understand communication through tone and non-verbal actions better. Because of these differences, it can be difficult to get a message across the way that we intend it to be taken.

The process of getting a message across to someone takes a few steps. It starts by forming a thought, feeling, or idea in your mind. You then have to encode that message the way that you think it will be received best. The message then has to go through a medium to the intended recipient. After they receive the message, their job is to decode it into what they think you are trying to say. They then form their own thought, feeling, or idea. There are quite a few places in this process that a message can become distorted. We should take extra consideration to try to communicate in a way that people

"Actions speak louder than words." This phrase is quite commonly used. I am guilty of saying it, but not truly understanding it. Most of the communication that we use is considered non-verbal. Sometimes we communicate something even unintentionally through our use of body language. We cannot expect that someone will believe our words if our actions are contrary to them. Are we taking special care to ensure that our actions are aligned with our words? If not, something needs to change.

Technology is something that we are blessed to have access to. But, is this tool hindering good communication? Text messaging eliminates two of the 3 forms of communication. We are only able to use words. This forces the recipient to assume a tone and they have no way of using body language to help. So in a way, it is somewhat hindering effective communication (if we allow it to.)

Communication is a much more complicated thing that what I was able to express in this short post, but there is value in it. There is value in developing good skills to help us communicate with our families in a way that will help us grow closer together.