{*Did you know you can write on Elephant? Here’s how—big changes: How to Write & Make Money or at least Be of Benefit on Elephant. ~ Waylon}
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In the last few months, I’ve seen some comments on social media stating disdainfully that people don’t communicate properly these days.
They claim that the younger generations especially don’t talk face-to-face, and that they text “too much,” and that that kind of communication is not real.
Oh the irony of posting that on social media.
In my opinion, nothing could be further from the truth.
People talk and hang out all the time. Kids ride bikes and scooters around, and groups of them play football in quiet streets or hang out at the skate park. From the age of 18 and upwards, many people go traveling and meet new people from around the world.
(Who they can then stay connected to online.)
I think WhatsApp, and all its cousins, are amazing. I communicate with family and friends throughout my day, no matter how far away they may be. From photos of the view, to snaps of a silly cat, from funny reels, to informative Ted Talks, we share it all.
But this, is not about that.
When I was a child, I was so terribly shy that for a while I didn’t let anyone outside of my family hear the sound of my voice. When I was forced to speak at school, it would be with as few words as possible, and so quietly that I would hear those two little words, again and again.
Speak up!
Speak up!
The other day, something happened that made me feel incredibly sad and worried, and I could not talk to anyone.
Sometimes I actually find that speaking out loud about something upsetting causes me to feel more anxious.
Yet I found myself reaching out, in a poem, talking to my own sadness.
I was able to write about it.
And I was able to text about it.
I find it easier to put my thoughts and feelings into writing than I do to vocalize them.
Of course, it depends on who I’m talking to, when, where, and what we are talking about.
Some conversations have to be held in person.
But not every piece of communication has to be done in person.
Even more difficult than the one-to-one conversations are the group conversations!
Often in groups, people don’t hear me, or I don’t get the chance to say what I want to say. However, in a group chat text, I can just write it and it will be read. Of course, this can also be easily ignored, but I like knowing I can put my words out there too.
I simply respond well to written communication.
And I can imagine that for awkward and shy teens, as well as anyone who struggles to open up face-to-face, the advent of texting has been an amazing opportunity to open doors with the written word.
Text.
In one of my groups, people frequently post about things they are worried about, or their fragile mental health. It is often mentioned, that they cannot open up to people “in real life.”
There are no opportunities, no time, or they struggle to formulate it in words, on the spot.
Writing sometimes feels anonymous, like you can separate yourself from the text. That is why journaling is so effective as a therapy in itself.
Writing makes it easier for some people to express how they feel.
The other day, I read a comment on Reddit by a teenage girl explaining that she had suffered from depression, and those who got her through it were her mother and her online friends. She said she struggled to make friends at school, and felt incredibly lonely, but she met friends online who stuck by her and guided her through the darkness.
I read that and felt so glad for her.
In our haste to discredit and blame the online world for mental issues and loneliness, let us not ignore the fact that there are a lot of people out there who have been connected by it, helped by it, and even saved by it.
Let us see the advent of online communication not as a replacement for face-to-face communication, but as another option, for those like me.
Those with the quiet voices.
Those who are a little bit scared.
Those who struggle to be heard.
“You may think I’m small, but I have a universe inside my mind.” Yoko Ono
I am being heard these days.
Still not so much when I speak.
But a whole lot more when I write.
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AUTHOR: LINDA MARIA JONES
IMAGE: AUTHOR'S OWN
EDITOR: LISA ERICKSON
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