Your Last Message Did Not Reach Its Intended Audience

All this technology and we still can’t communicate.

We live in this world of ones and zeros where the screen is like a shield, giving us this false sense of invincibility.   We mock, we demean, and we basically say a lot of things, but we don’t listen to each other.    Why is it so hard to say the things that need to be said?  

There was a time when I thought that there were no boundaries.    I could say anything.   And yet, it got me in trouble.   So, I kept my mouth shut and just went along with the flow, not making waves.  Because even if you think that the ship might be strong enough to carry you,  it’s still a balancing act to keep it from flipping.

Honesty may be the best policy, but even honesty has its drawbacks.   And if the truth will set you free, why are the words so razor sharp that they feel like they will tear you to pieces when they come out.   And in that sense, you can only imagine what they’ll do to the intended audience.    They’re also heavy.  They’re heavy to bear in your soul.   They carry so much drag.   They have only gotten heavier in time.    So much time, so much weight.  So much fear to unload.  So little time in this world to make it count. 

Then, there’s the ones you think you can say anything to and yet you hold onto the thoughts because you have to.   Code helps a bit.   Half thoughts and analogies mask your intentions.   You only hope they have their Little Orphan Decoder ring and know exactly what you mean.    But, do they?  Does it matter?  Do they feign ignorance to be funny or is it more?  And because you know the things you want to say may not be welcomed at these times, you hold on to them and those words weigh in your throat and your soul.

We have so much capacity to heal and harm with a word.  We’re better than 1000 cures and worse than a 1000 missiles.  Yet, when given the chance, we can pretty much expect to not say anything at all.   The Cold War of communication continues and that wall grows increasingly thicker between people. 

Maybe we need to tear down these walls and get it all out there.   Maybe it’s time to stop hiding behind the shields we cling to, like silicon, plastic, and anonymity.    Maybe the invincibility needs to come from not being afraid to feel what you feel.    Maybe we need to tell those who need to hear it the things we hold onto out of fear.   Maybe they need to hear them to be able to feel what they need to feel.  Like a chain reaction of healing or something, we can maybe give life a little push.

Or, we can die, choking on our own words.   We can hold onto those thoughts and just go through life, suffocating on our feelings.  We can ignore everything and just take a pride pill, swallowing it hard and smiling as we do it.   Is it melodramatic?  Cathartic?  Stupid?  Maybe it’s just honesty  Maybe that’s what we need to use as our shield.   

We don’t have to be evil.   Just be honest with our message.   Hope for the best, expect something close, and have faith that we are somewhere in the ballpark of the intended reaction.   The least you can say is that you tried.  You tried to be the person you should have always been; the one you used to be before you stopped communicating.   You can shed so much fear if you accept that there are things beyond your control and that’s OK to live without the ability to steer and guide every little thing in your life.  You can live free in the knowledge that you did what you could with what you had and even if it ends, you did your best. 

Communicate.  Say anything, but be honest and true.