Communication

Let's just preface this with the fact that I majored in Communications...

When I was playing volleyball at Arizona State, I had the privilege of running a clinic with a high school team of deaf girls. I was blown away with their ability to work together and communicate without speaking. This inspired me to learn sign language so I enrolled in my first ASL class. It was challenging but I absolutely loved it. I was briefly introduced to a small, loving, tight-knit community of some of the most eccentric people I have ever met. I love the way they communicate and completely wear their emotions on their sleeves. They do this out of necessity. Different signs carry different meanings based solely on one's posture and facial expressions.

I really liked this part of their language because anyone who knows me knows that I have several facial expressions and I'm pretty terrible at hiding the way I feel (this is both good and absolutely terrible depending on the situation).

Well now that I'm in a foreign country and I lack the ability to communicate in a similar language, I've had to resort to acting things out and relying on my facial expressions. It just made me realize that before I got to Turkey, I had grown accustom to some bad communication habits. I have answered people without even looking up from my tv screen, or phone, or laptop. It was rare that I would look someone (other than Jordan and Kawika) in the eyes when they were talking.

But with my current language barrier I have found that I've slowed down quite a bit. I really take the time to look others straight in the eyes and smile. And boy, this had made such a difference. I may not be able to understand them and they certainly can't understand me but I feel like I can truly see a small piece of their soul. Suddenly I am no longer a grammar nazi mentally correcting them in my head. I don't get stuck on incorrect pronouns, conjugations, and pronunciations. Instead I'm more concerned about the message rather than the delivery. And as scary as intimacy is for me, I'm more concerned about connecting with them on a human level than I have been in a really long time.

So that's it. Today I learned (again) how to effectively communicate. I'm sure I learned this at some point in my academic career but today I understand it. It only took me having to go halfway around the world to really knock the nail in... I LEARNED THAT THE HARD WAY :)