Thank you to Yahoo! Mail for sponsoring this post about staying connected. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.
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I lead what is, in many ways, an exceeding verbal life. I'm a talker. I like to talk. Sometimes, I think I like to talk too much. It's not that I don't listen, it's that I'm anxious to contribute. Finding the words isn't usually a problem. I've talked for work, for fun, for art. Back in the day, when I was performing stand up comedy at least 3 times a week there was very little I enjoyed more than engaging an audience in a conversation. The gift of the gab, I've got it. While this has served me well in many situations, sometimes my big mouth gets me in trouble.
Self editing is often a challenge for me. Instead of pausing, thinking and realizing that now might not be the best moment to speak that hard truth or make that joke I jump in full steam ahead thinking that the honesty will be appreciated or the humour will diffuse tension. It almost never does.
Sometimes I think I would have done better back in the days of letter writing and carrier pigeons, so I could carefully consider each word and really think about my intentions and impact. Instead of jumping in head first, I would pause and the words I wrote would live up to the ones inside my head the way the ones that come out of my mouth rarely do.
The thing is, I can still have a degree of that ability to perfect my message thanks to email. Email has allowed me the opportunity to apply for jobs without coming on too strong. Email taught me how to have a serious discussion in a relationship with a significant other without being too emotional. Email has provided me with the freedom to take the time to find the words when they are hard to come by. We're all speechless sometimes, even mouthy broads like me. I'm grateful that I live in a world where technology has allowed me to find my voice and to stay connected. Email has made us all more tactful, better storytellers and I think, better to each other. Email helps me find my inner editor. I call her Mildred. She's overworked and a little cranky to be sure, but she gives sound advice. I don't know what I'd do without her.
In other words, "Miss Tracey knows it all and isn't above sharing." (giggle, giggle, snort)
ReplyDeleteIt's my observation that the internet and e-mails have created two extremes. On one hand you can find those who hide behind the relative anonymity to spew inarticulately, and on the other hand those who use the wonderful tool of language and those inner editors to add to our knowledge and pleasure.
I enjoyed your thoughtful and personal post.