“Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee,
and just as hard to sleep after."
------Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Sometime during my freshman year in high school my mother disappeared for several days. My queries about her absence were met with abruptness and silence from my dad. When the police brought her home, nothing was discussed--no explanations. She went to the bedroom. He followed her and shut the door and there was silence. Several days later all was back to “normal.” We all knew, but we did not discuss or ask questions. Concealment and power-plays like this were integral to our unchallenged family culture. It was life-as-usual in my formative years and it worked to instill in me a longing for clarity in communication and non-manipulative influence in others’ lives.
My interest in communication-----in linking thought to expression--- emerged not because of excellent role models, but was instead born of frustration with the apparent absence or abuses of them. The demise of intimate relationships, the aha moment that found no receiver, the vision that fell flat for lack of buy-in, the charades in social engagements, all affirm this deficit. My work in ecclesiastical and academic settings has served to further convince me of this void.
Over the next two years I am participating in a graduate program in communication and leadership from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. I created this blogspot to keep a journal of this stimulating time in my life—a time of learning and growth. I want to do a “Julie and Julia” kind of commitment to regular (at least weekly) postings—tracking some of the ideas, quotes, paradigm shifts, creative dreaming, and inspiration acquired in this new journey. I do not intend this as simply a self-serving endeavor. I would like to imagine it offering the reader food for pondering and responding.
It’s about two hours until the new year. I guess this is an appropriate time to launch this project---A toast to clarity in 2011!
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