Friday, February 6, 2009

Spiritual Communcation

When emotions and feelings are shared between individuals, it is considered to be a part of spiritual communication. There is a sense of empathy that exists between individuals that we experience through the other forms of communication. You do not even have to have that person present in order for that sense to occur.

You hear phrases like "the spirit of the law"— which seem to say that it is the meaning behind the words… not the words themselves that matter. I believe that the spirit of the author is embedded in those words— even if the author has passed. How often do we find ourselves laughing or crying while watching an old movie, or reading a great book. It is this experience that proves spiritual communication exists.

Given that you can't point at an emotion or feeling and say "there, that's what I'm talking about"— it is very difficult to quantify spiritual communication. This lack of quantification is what makes spiritual communication so intangible in nature. I believe that spiritual communication is the glue that binds all forms of communication together. If we begin to understand this connection we will be able to better communicate what we "truly" mean in what ever form we choose to communicate with.

10 comments:

B said...

Though intangible in nature I don't believe, at least for myself, that, "it is very difficult to quantify spiritual communication." Why? I allow myself to feel, and I trust myself, and those feelings. You do that often enough and you don't guess as to what qualifies or what doesn't. But that's just me.

Aracely said...

I really enjoyed this whole series CJ. Well done.

kel said...

well done series!!

Deb said...

oh i like that, and i agree. nice way to tie it all together.

Tony@ That One Paticular Harbor said...

I enjoyed the interesting perspectives . Thanks

Ron said...

I think this starts to touch on the "collective human spirit" where we as people feel pride, joy, sadness and hope as a result of collective or similar type events and experiences like 911 or when our child graduates from college.

Another great post.

PS - I sent those answers to you. If you didn't get them please let me know. Thanks again.

Erin said...

Another great discussion. Thank you.

PreciseDisarray said...

Having worked in education with Autistic children for several years, the subjectivity of communication exchange is apparent to me. Depending on what they could tolerate and respond to the best, I would adjust my communication style to meet their needs, learning more about myself in the process. Tone of voice, posture, degree of eye contact, physical proximity, touch (placement, timing, pressure, combined with words or alone, etc), expressions, non word vocalizations and that unquantifiable 'certain something' (respect? emotional ties? spiritual essence?), ie; all those things that encapsulate your communication blog series, impacts the way information is sent and received. Perhaps we can communicate more effectively if we alter our style according to the audience we want to 'communicate' with. To try to understand what they are "saying" within the context of their style can be daunting, but in some scenarios, it might be the only way. Especially important in written communication; particularly considering the awesome degree of diversity within the use of the internet. If we don't understand someone, lets ask for clarification rather than conclude based solely on personal experience.
On that note, by default, I tend to display the communication style I am looking for to be provided to me. Naturally introverted and reserved, a quality that can confuse the more extroverted around me, I am more inclined to verbalize thoughts when I know my audience is listening ie; focused body language, eye contact, asking probing questions (I don't let it all out at once) etc. If someone interrupts, looks around or appears/sounds/seems to not be into what I am saying, I shut down, keeping my thoughts comfortably to myself. Even if they say that they were 'listening' and likely were, in their style, it throws me off enough to lose my train of thought, ending further communication at that time.
Thanks for the thought provoking subject matter, I appreciate generalizing something that got me thinking, into the rest of the day(s). ~Carey

Jo said...

Deep thoughts and very true. You do good job putting words on a difficult concept to make concrete.

Unknown said...

wow, something lovely and pround to think about on a Monday morning. Well said.

Web Analytics