There was once a time in my life where I spoke on the phone often, responded to messages quickly, and had no problem keeping up with communication. Those days have since past. Sometimes I lay down in bed, late in the night, and think about the fact that I haven’t spoken to my mom in days… my own mother! I go back through messages and see I forgot to respond to her text or call and before I know it I am answering the door, feeding the kids, or just running around like a chicken with my head cut off.
I truly do LOVE our ability to communicate in so many ways and I love how it has helped me to keep up with friends I would have lost touch with years ago, BUT, I hate how it has turned me into a pretty terrible communicator. If you are on the reciprocating end of that, I am so sorry. I realized today in a short conversation with a friend that just small spoken words can come across so inconvenient. We commincuacte in SO many different ways that the written word has become full of abbreviations and sort answers. I really don’t think it is due to laziness, I really believe we are just overextended in the ways we communicate.
When I sit down and think of all the places I need to respond, it is no wonder our vocabulary is full of; k, ttyl, the letter u instead of you, emoticons instead of words, and so on. It is daunting to stare at Facebook, Facebook messenger, blogs, texts, e-mails, inboxes, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, voicemails, Evernotes, Dropboxes, group threads, group pages, tags, and so on. She touched on the response of sorry instead of, “I’m sorry to hear that” or “I’m sorry that happened.” We are so overwhelemed with commincation that it is just easier to respond without thinking.
It is a slippery slope of poor communication and the result will be poor outcomes.
If we want to use these tools to better communicate with our friends, family, and businesses then we may need to consider taking the time to be more intentional about our responses.
To my friends who seem to wait days to get a response from me: I am working on it, and the next time you hear from me, it will be more than a word or two or a letter of the alphabet. Our words, when used well, can change the course of the day, the outcome of situations, and the value of friendships.
My challenge to myself is to use more words.