The Curse Of The Written Word

Lately I have noted how easy it is for others to get the wrong end of the stick as such with my writing. Emailing and blogging are not always reliable forms of communication, it would seem. One writes differently in these forums and so if you write freely, like I do, letting the words just spill out, it isn't really much different to not thinking before you speak.

And perhaps I do need to learn to think before I speak.

I have had a backlash recently around expressing myself in the written form. This has caused me to ponder as to whether I could be a better communicator. Of course I can. There is always room for improvement.

I went to see Danny Bhoy (a Scottish/Indian comedian) last Winter here in Nelson with some work colleagues (and we're going again this August). He had me in stitches, but what I actually took away from his gig was the sentiment of direct communication being the most gracious and effective way to well, communicate. It's so easy in this day and age to text, email and now blog. And I'm guilty of being an abuser of all three.

But I've turned a corner with all this. Yes, I have decided that I will continue to blog for myself. Friends, family, and whoever else are welcome to read my posts. But really it is just an outlet and a place for me to write. We have a family blog which is great for family updates. But our family blog can't be soley relied on for contact. Otherwise we are in danger of creating relationships that float around in cyber space. So for actual contact with friends and family, I might try using the phone a little more. Some long distance relationships are exempt from this, as obviously I can't phone everyone on my (email) contact list.

In the past I've resorted to email as a cheats and almost lazy way of making contact. Same with texting. It's so easy to use the excuse of a busy life to flick off an email or to send a quick text. So I'm going to try emailing a little less. In fact I've been doing that already for the last few weeks - checking my emails once a day and switching the computer off afterwards instead of having it on all day and checking my in-box on each passing. Phone calls don't have to be long, if possible I will phone the person (especially if local) and save myself the twenty cents it costs to send a text.

Don't get me wrong, emailing and texting will continue as ways of keeping contact with others, but if it is possible to make a phone-call, then I will. Give me a couple of months and we'll see how I go...