Sharing

What is something that people use all the time? Communication. Communication can be done thru various ways such as thoughts, messages, speech, signals, or behavior to name a few.  It's interesting to note that we get our word 'communication' from the Latin communis meaning to share. Although this may seem so obvious to most, I'm not sure if I've really contemplated the fact that communication=sharing.

From a child I remember hearing about the Tower of Babel. It interested me that at one point there was one language that all people shared. God then confused the people and created a multitude of different languages, (being a jumbled up mess of 3 major languages, we can understand why English is so confusing).    

In my early teens I became very aware of this thing called 'communication' though at the time I didn't label it that. I knew that something, innately in me wanted to express my feelings. Talking became my largest form of sharing thoughts with others. It started ever so small and then grew to become a passion of mine. I soon learned that not only did I want people to understand me, but I also wanted to understand them. 

This passion has since funneled me to learning different forms of communication. The first time I stepped beyond my world was at church when I met a lady that was deaf. Every time I saw her there, she had a huge smile even though she would never hear the wonderful sounds that were all around her. She used sign language to communicate, however the only other person that could sign back to her was her husband. It bothered me that I could not fully 'speak' to her as I didn't know American Sign Language (ASL). It didn't take much brain power to realize that I could learn some signing and be able to talk to her. In a little bit I was able to say a short greeting and introduce my self in ASL. Unfortunately I never got the chance to talk with her as the moved off island shortly thereafter. 

This experience wet my appetite and my itch for learning was soon tried again. I meet another lady, this time she was full Japanese. Although her accent was thick, she had a very good grasp of the English language. I knew some friends of mine that were in their second year of learning Japanese so I asked for some phrases. I still remember her look of surprise and delight when I said "Hello, how are you" in her native tongue.  

My recent jaunts out of country have widened my scope of language and have added more beautiful words to my vocabulary. As with anything you learn the more you use it the better you become, so I have tried to brush up on what I've got. Pulling into work this morning, it suddenly hit me how perfectly located my job is. Here, I get the opportunity to speak Spanish to one neighbor and Russian to another, all while in the comforts of home.