Attempting Magic

Communication is terribly inefficient and probably made of magic. After each idea sayer hopes the listener understands, the idea sayer becomes the listener. The role-shifting nature of communication involves a tremendous amount of trust and hope to be heard and to hear—the goal is usually to find a mutually agreed upon understanding of agreement or disagreement.

I’m an emotional being who wants to be loved and known. As I work to transfer chemical balances (emotions) to concepts before even finding the words I hope another person hears, I’m reminded that my listener’s collection of my words have to filter through their ears, transfer to concepts in their mind (from their perspective), and end up as chemical change on their end before we trade roles again.

It’s amazing to me that any form of communication works at all. When I’m struggling to be heard or to understand another person’s ideas, I try to remind myself that I’m playing with magic in the first place: it might not always work out how I intended.