Bulletin Board

This is on the wall between my desk and my worktable. Every once in awhile I look at it and think I must tidy it up a bit, but those things were put there for a reason and I can remember the reason for each thing up there which is an accomplishment in itself, so I just keep layering it with new stuff. If I took them down, they would just go into a shoe box somewhere....

I was so keen on putting up some pictures of the County Fair yesterday that I didn't take up the MonoMonday challenge of 'communication', but I have been thinking about it quite a bit. The definition according to Google is 'the imparting or exchanging of information or news'. I would go a step farther and say that I think there has to be an exchange or it isn't really communication. 

I would go a step further, and I'm well aware that this ages me, and say that the best form of communication is a face to face exchange. I spent more time than I had looking for a picture I took years ago of two young women in a café leaning into each other across a table with intense, engaged looks on their faces that broadcast the  fact that they were communicating. 

My bulletin board could be said to be a form of communication. It certainly imparts all kinds kinds of information, but to me, the best form of communication is where there is give and take, discussion, willingness to listen and to contribute. Without the latter, it is more like sermonizing. A handwritten letter, another indicator of my age, no doubt, can also qualify as communication. Some of the letters that my grandparents wrote to each other are eloquent, moving exchanges, but with necessarily long lapses between them. For that reason that form of communication  has just about gone the way of the dinosaur.

To me, the best way to communicate with someone is across a table where the parties have access to expressions, gestures, and mood. And preferably good drinks and food. No emojis necessary. (I used to laugh when I would see people talking in their phones in their cars and bowing as they talked.) Even when I'm willing to troll through a growing list of emojis I rarely find one that really expresses my emotions in a text.  And even if I was willing to take the time, I would probably get it wrong....

And don't get me started about social media....The only social media site I visit is this one because we all know that it is different....I will now allow for comments or else this will be a sermon.

I'm waiting for the fabric I ordered a week ago to arrive. (Is the FedEx tracking report on the location of my package communication? Why is my package still in Olathe Kansas? And where IS Olathe Kansas?)