This week’s topic is faces! As a photographer I love faces. My whole job is faces! Your face speaks volumes about who you are. And my goal is to capture that in a still image.
Personally, I wear exactly how I am feeling on my face. I’m easy to read. And so is my precious baby girl, Shayla. Here is her face this morning when she saw a bunny! Can you mistake at all how she feels about that bunny?
I then started to think about how important non-verbal communication is. As I have mentioned in my first post, Shayla doesn’t have a whole lot of vocabulary yet, as she is only 22 months. So non-verbal communication is everything to us. Its faces, its hugs, tears and kisses, hand pulling and leg-tugging. We communicate through everything that has nothing to do with words coming out of her mouth.
I love people. I love communication. I love getting to know people through communication! And guess what? Even as adults to adults it’s not any different. The majority of our communication is non-verbal. A lesson we have all learned in this day of digital technology! Have you ever had that text, email, IM, Twitter/Facebook post, etc etc – whatever message – completely misunderstood? All because the receiving end did not read your written word correctly?
I have… I tend to be sarcastic at times. Word to the wise… Unless the person really knows you, don’t use it! It never comes across the right way. Ever! Or have you received a message all in caps swearing that they were screaming at you? Or have you answered a text with a quick, “OK”, only to have the receiving party think you were being short and something’s wrong? When it really was the fact you have a purse, laptop, 22 month old, camera bag and groceries in your arms and just wanted to acknowledge their attempt to contact you! I’ve been there!
Don’t get me wrong. I love modern technology! Its easy, convenient and I can have 6 different conversations going on at one time. What multi-tasking, working, mother of a toddler doesn’t love that?! Plus when thousands of miles away from one another, you can still feel close enough to touch. We LOVE Skype in this house cause our family is spread across the continent!
But nothing, in my book, beats getting face to face with the people you love. Or even those that you don’t particularly love at the time.
I remember arguing with someone over email. It was horrible. Everything I typed was taken the wrong way. All I wanted to do was meet face to face, hug them, look into their eyes, so they could see how I cared!! But they refused to meet with me. And to this day, sits a destroyed friendship over a misunderstood email between her and another friend that I wasn’t even originally part of.
I believe that some people now use this modern technology to hide. Maybe they don’t like confrontation. Maybe they are a shy person in general. I get that, I understand. I have been on the receiving end of a confrontational email and a confrontational face to face conversation. Honestly the face to face one went much better because I respected the fact that they didn’t hide behind words. Where as the email just felt cowardly and a slight hit below the belt. And what makes it different? That non-verbal communication - of their hug, their eyes, their smile or just their physical presence.
We are group of people that were made to be in communion with one another. And that means sharing and exchanging of thoughts and feelings - by definition. I treasure my face to face time with those that I love. I look forward to it, thrive in it and I am better because of it. Even if that means some hard words to exchange. I know that they cared enough to meet me.
This week call up that friend, family member or acquaintance that you know you just need some good face to face time with. I’m sure they will want to see your face as much as you want to see theirs, and you’ll both feel better because of it.
Always,
Briana |
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