How We Communicate

"Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing." - Rollo May

It does not happen very often, but I have from time to time left my cell phone sitting at home on my office desk. When it does happens, I have found myself siting in the company office amused by a certain sense of loss.

Yes, I am like billions of others that carry a cell phone. I sort of think cell phones are the modern day equivalent to shirt pen pocket protectors. Cell phone nerds of the new millennium I suppose.

I am also not sure when I became so attached to the many forms of communication we have today. All of us use cell phones for instant connection to others. We use the Internet which opens your life to an entire world and nearly all of the information amassed. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and web blogs; a vast array of information and communication sources at our fingertips.

Some might argue all of this information and communication access is way too much. Having such a huge amount of information might be a bad thing for us. Yet think about many more years ago when the first telephones became household fixtures. Those devices opened a huge new world to people everywhere.

To think that up until the time of telephones, the most instant communication one could send required going to a telegraph office, wiring off your message and then it had to be delivered physically to a person on the other end. Western Union Telegraph basically obsoleted the Pony Express.

Today, I can be standing in an office in Cork, Ireland and talk to my wife in Atlanta. All I have to do is dial her number on my cell phone and talk. And the other forms, typing an email message, writing an instant message or even setting up my web cam and delivering a live image; it can be done real time. I don't even need that webcam. That is old school. Just Facetime via our Apple iPhones.

The opening of communication between people is a good thing.

The more we talk, the more we get a better understanding of each other.

Be aware of those that use it for destructive purposes, but do not allow that to push you away from the goodness that increased communication provides. My cell phone might be sitting by itself once in a while, but I have a variety of ways to communicate with others.

And today I'll start by standing face-to-face and just talking to people.

Stay inspired my friends.