In our Top 5 Posts from 2007 series, this post is #4! The message is as important and valid today as it was when we first published it in 2007, so we’re pulling it out, dusting it off, and giving it another moment in the sun. Enjoy!

You may think it’s obvious, especially to one of the presenters of a communication workshop, but how easy I forget. Talking soothes my worry, clears my mind, articulates my emotions, makes my relationships stronger and closer. It’s how I share who I am with you. It’s how we merge our perceptions, our worlds, together. In my opinion, there is altogether not enough of it going on. And yet…

Sometimes, I get wrapped up in fear or worry and all the positive aspects of talking just go, float away, dissipate, cease to stick in my head. I bottle up and shut down. I spend hours, days, occasionally weeks stuck in this box of my own creation, wondering why things have gotten so bad. I wonder where all the stress in my shoulders originates, why I’m snipping at everyone, why I’m so worn out.

And then, I remember. I breathe. I think. I find an opening, a good time and a good setting, and I talk. We talk. Usually, it’s a flood of words and emotions as worry and fear pour through me taking form and expression. An exchange of who I am, my perception, my world – sharing and merging into who you are, your world. For a time, we talk while the outside fades; we focus on communication and sharing. It’s sacred, beautiful, special. And, in the end, everything is better.