Listen IF you can

I have learned much about the truth behind this statement quite recently. So much that I have begun to keep my mouth shut, in certain situations anyway. I have always been one to share my feelings through words. I love words and the meanings, emotions and thoughts they can inspire. I know the power a word or phrase can have and how communication is such an essential part of our world. Sometimes though, no matter your intention and no matter how important words can be, there are some people who will just never understand them or you for that matter.

I am not one to ever say that I can be "silenced." I believe we should be free to say what we feel and shouldn't ever hold who we are back. This is of course to say that what you are saying is not intentionally hurtful because using words as weapons is never OK, but sometimes among certain company, your words can hurt yourself.

Sometimes I feel like we are all kind of like a puzzle. A complex riddle that very few others can ever completely figure out. Some people get pretty close, but the tangled web of unique and chaotic human being we each are can never truly be unraveled. When we find ourselves in moments and in situations with people who know very little about us or don't care to understand, the words we say are open to all kinds of misinterpretation. They can't  figure out our puzzle. Some people just don't get our sense of humor, understand the words we use or simply just don't like us so they take everything we say and twist it to meet their own agenda or to find more fault in us. Sometimes we're kind of damned either way, to either not speak at all or to speak and be misunderstood.

So I am constantly learning, always getting better and learning from my mistakes. Sometimes it's not even my mistake, simply that I entrusted much more to someone than they deserved and I am revoking their previous privileges. So my lesson has been that I need to have a better filter. To know when to say something and when to say nothing. To know what to say and what to keep to myself. To know who will appreciate my words and who could give a shit less. For someone like me who loves words and loves using them, there is nothing more crushing than to have someone misunderstand or take your words and use them for something other than what you intended them for. Or to say something whole-heartedly for the betterment of something or someone and have it ignored. To know that someone "can hear you, but they can't understand." Picture this: it's like if your words actually visibly came out of your mouth when you spoke, you could watch them soar across the room and bounce right off someone's face. They can hear, but cannot absorb. 'Tis incredibly frustrating.

So if anyone happens to notice my quiet or lack of posts, never fear for I am still here ;) I am just being a little more selective about what I say and to whom I say it. I feel like I am always saying things like this, but I guess that is because my words mean a great deal to me and I take it kind of personally whenever they are not used the way they were intended. My words are precious to me and I don't like to waste them on deaf, disinterested or disrespectful ears. Listen.  Hear me, if you can.