Communication lives in different ways these days, compared to my youthful stages of running around the neighbourhood and talking to people on the street. There are a huge range of ways to communicate today, but I wonder how many of them lead us to face-to-face communication. You know, the type where you are seeing a human person in front of you. You can speak, perhaps nervously, with the ability to understand another person in ways that are unseen and unknown, to the technological forces that play such a huge role in our current lives.

Have you been watching people talk? You could see so many emotions washing through their body and flushing out through their faces. Or perhaps, there is such a lack of emotion, where you might wonder how that person must feel in that moment. How have you felt when in conversations with others? Often the answer revolves around many different things. For example, picture a lake with ducks flying from the depths of sky and landing gently on the surface of the water. Surrounded by tall and grounded brown coloured, green leafy trees. Beyond the boundary of the lake, an inviting rich caramel coloured bench sits beneath trees full of birds, joyfully chirping. As you sit on the bench your body fills with love, peace, excitement. Your heart feels calm and your earlier stresses begin to fade. As your smile grows up to your eyes, a person (imagine someone) whom you have never met asks to take a seat next to you, to breathe in the fresh air and scenery. You welcome them with a strong sense of peace, with a slight sense of anxiety because a “stranger” is sitting next to you. “It’s a beautiful place isn’t it?” The person asks with smiling eyes and a calm space about them. “Yes, it is, (smiling and looking their way), I wish I could live here”, you reply. “Me too (giggling). See the ducks over there……” they continue.

A conversation can be wonderful in a moment, where the scenery flows and peace surrounds you. In a scenery where people are rushing through the mall and guided by the people around them, the conversation will most likely feel very different. Sitting on a seat next to another in this space, may feel more overwhelming and perhaps lead you to feel too constricted to speak unless you were spoken to. If two people whom had a chance to communicate thought that way, there would no conversation to begin with. Scenery is helpful, but conversations anywhere, even through a random, kind comment can be enough to brighten up a person’s day. Even if they don’t smile, they look sad or annoyed that you said anything at all. To speak, is to share your life moments with another and that is the fun of communication.