I try to listen to my fellow humans. I hear the words they say, but all I hear is talk talk talk talk talk most of the time. Words filled with idle banter of the gossip mongers, liars, and those filled with endless boredom. It sort of reminds me of the South Park episode where when Stan listens to music or other people talk, all he hears is CRAP. I feel bad about this because I KNOW as humans that we are inherently social creatures and we instinctively desire social networking with our fellow men/women.
I'm not too proud to admit I've had my social faux pas in the past which have led to current communication problems. My family had money around high school and college age so I wasn't sure who just hung around for the booze, drugs, and partying or who actually wanted to be my friend. I even feel that way about social networking websites like Facebook, which should really be called DRAMA-book, where everyone wants to be your friend, but no one actually talks to you like you are a real person. Also, it is easy to misconstrue words and their meaning via text or posts on FB or Twitter. Friendships have been lost over these miscommunications and misunderstandings. But what really grinds my gears the most is all this gossip or an individuals need to hear his/her self speak, usually about NOTHING IMPORTANT. I don't think that people understand how much negativity they are putting out into the universe. It's worse for the people who are tired and don't want to hear the endless talking about jack shit. Often those people end up becoming negative, having been worn down by the bla bla bla...
I read recently that some scientists say we are supposed to LISTEN 80% of the time and only talk 20%... and I laughed hysterically for a moment because I can't think of a single person who actually does this, except maybe ME. I try to wait until I have something IMPORTANT to talk about rather than wasting my time and energy on drab, dull, or boring conversation that seems endless and engulfing. Americans in particular are seemingly uncomfortable with ANY moments of silence, as silence is revealing of our true inner self. However, when you actually bring up issues of importance, no one has anything to say, quite often. That person was fine running their head with diarrhea of the mouth about celebrity gossip or what their friends posted on Facebook, but they cannot muster the brain power to think about others' feelings or something important like who is representing us in the political/religious arena. No one wants to talk about how we are going to FIX the problems of the world... so we are stuck in this endless cycle of TALK, but with no ACTION. DOING SOMETHING ABOUT A PROBLEM is much more difficult than running our mouths in ceaseless TALK, TALK, TALK, TALK, TALK, TALK....
EVERYONE wants their voice and opinions to be heard AND listened to, so why is it we have such a listening problem? EGO, plain and simple. Because even the stupid mouthy people think that what they have to SAY is more important than LISTENING or what the other person has to say. So we end up with this continual cycle of non-listening while awaiting our turn to speak, not clearly understanding that the person we are attempting to communicate with is doing the EXACT SAME THING TO US... waiting for his/her turn to speak. Then, in their attempt to get his/her own words listened to, they interrupt and talk over the original speaker because THEY THINK THAT WHAT THEY HAVE TO SAY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANYTHING ELSE,.. even if that means pissing off the other person.
We should all think about our communication with others and genuinely TRY to listen. All we can do is just put out a little effort, right? This has been the one and only Quiet Mouse.
I'm not too proud to admit I've had my social faux pas in the past which have led to current communication problems. My family had money around high school and college age so I wasn't sure who just hung around for the booze, drugs, and partying or who actually wanted to be my friend. I even feel that way about social networking websites like Facebook, which should really be called DRAMA-book, where everyone wants to be your friend, but no one actually talks to you like you are a real person. Also, it is easy to misconstrue words and their meaning via text or posts on FB or Twitter. Friendships have been lost over these miscommunications and misunderstandings. But what really grinds my gears the most is all this gossip or an individuals need to hear his/her self speak, usually about NOTHING IMPORTANT. I don't think that people understand how much negativity they are putting out into the universe. It's worse for the people who are tired and don't want to hear the endless talking about jack shit. Often those people end up becoming negative, having been worn down by the bla bla bla...
I read recently that some scientists say we are supposed to LISTEN 80% of the time and only talk 20%... and I laughed hysterically for a moment because I can't think of a single person who actually does this, except maybe ME. I try to wait until I have something IMPORTANT to talk about rather than wasting my time and energy on drab, dull, or boring conversation that seems endless and engulfing. Americans in particular are seemingly uncomfortable with ANY moments of silence, as silence is revealing of our true inner self. However, when you actually bring up issues of importance, no one has anything to say, quite often. That person was fine running their head with diarrhea of the mouth about celebrity gossip or what their friends posted on Facebook, but they cannot muster the brain power to think about others' feelings or something important like who is representing us in the political/religious arena. No one wants to talk about how we are going to FIX the problems of the world... so we are stuck in this endless cycle of TALK, but with no ACTION. DOING SOMETHING ABOUT A PROBLEM is much more difficult than running our mouths in ceaseless TALK, TALK, TALK, TALK, TALK, TALK....
EVERYONE wants their voice and opinions to be heard AND listened to, so why is it we have such a listening problem? EGO, plain and simple. Because even the stupid mouthy people think that what they have to SAY is more important than LISTENING or what the other person has to say. So we end up with this continual cycle of non-listening while awaiting our turn to speak, not clearly understanding that the person we are attempting to communicate with is doing the EXACT SAME THING TO US... waiting for his/her turn to speak. Then, in their attempt to get his/her own words listened to, they interrupt and talk over the original speaker because THEY THINK THAT WHAT THEY HAVE TO SAY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANYTHING ELSE,.. even if that means pissing off the other person.
We should all think about our communication with others and genuinely TRY to listen. All we can do is just put out a little effort, right? This has been the one and only Quiet Mouse.
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