We all like shorthand techniques. It’s why emoticons were invented in our text messages, and all sorts of other abbreviations! Heck, it’s why we have texting! Soon I’ll command my TV with my voice, and have a plethora of APPS that specialize in making my daily tasks faster (or so I think).
Sometimes shortcuts are not shortcuts. Consider our speech, for instance. Often when I think I am conserving words, I am actually creating misunderstanding! Have you ever said something that you thought was clear … perhaps expedient in getting your message across … only to spend the next 5 hours explaining that what you said was not what you meant!??
Speech shortcuts, although expedient, miss the whole point of the richness of interaction and connection. Worse, perhaps, is when our shortcuts alienate or wound others. Shorthand characterization as a means of quick communication is an example of the latter. We may say things like, “well, she is blonde” and expect others to know what that means, as if the categorization by appearance expresses a multitude of qualities without the need for other dialogue. We describe tendencies, skills or aptitudes of someone by identifying them with a particular ethnic group or geographical area. And then we say, “you know what I mean” expecting that all is understood by the unspoken insinuations.
Let’s bring back the long, slow, carefully thought out dialogue in life! Let me, as the Buddha reminds us, engage in “Right Speech” in my life. No More Shortcuts! Let every word I speak be the most accurate, heartfelt description of my thoughts and feelings, and let me not be a propagator of erroneous collective consciousness about any class or group of person based on race, appearance, sexual orientation, education, country or religion in order to be expedient.
And … let me be gentle, compassionate, and forgiving of self and others as together we learn to build a world that works more beautifully for all of us.
Our words are Precious .. And so are We.
Rev. Dr. Kristin Hawkins