Communication

Communication

"When I use a word," said Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." But Humpty Dumpty was mistaken. We would all like for our words to mean exactly what we choose for them to mean, in the sense that those who hear us understand us perfectly. However, communication is a complicated process. We will define communication as the use of language and nonverbal signs to create shared meaning between two or more people. But the meaning the meaning we convey to others depends on more than our intention."

Communication is an important part in family relations. It can be a determining factor in a healthy relationship. Having good communication can help a couple or family better share ideas and goals as well as important decisions and feelings with one another. 

"Much of the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of marriage and family life is rooted in the way that people communicate. In fact, a four-nation (Brazil, Italy, Taiwan, and the United States) study reported that constructive communication is positively associated with satisfaction in romantic relationships in these countries."

"When most people use the term communication, they probably are thinking of verbal communication, the use of words to convey our ideas to others." This form of communication is one of the most prevalent today. We use language to talk with one another and to share our thoughts and ideas. We use different forms of words to convey different feelings or meanings.

Verbal communication is only one of many types of communication we use today. We have many forms of nonverbal communication today include various types of electronic communications like email or texting. Our body language also shows emotion. 

Another big part of communication besides how we do it is how it is received by another individual. We all think differently which means we also all interpret things slightly differently. A husband could be acting normal yet a wife could be interpreting his body language as bored or not amused. When we talk we often speak differently around different people. We don't use slang around a university professor and we don't text our friends with perfect grammar.  We choose to switch our communication around different people because we want to be understood clearly. If we used slang around a university professor they might think we are careless or uneducated whereas if we used proper grammar with our friends they would think we are being snobs and trying to be more proper than them.

A good portion of communication is listening because only one person can speak at a time while everyone else must listen. As I served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints I learned to become a good listener. By better listening to people I could better understand the situation they were in and what I could do or say to better help them. If we don't listen we can't interpret what is being said. Listening makes responding more effective and they better someone gets at listening and picking up on the various types of communication the better that person can respond to the other.

Communicating as a couple or between family members is crucial in making good relationship. In my family some struggle to communicate which directly affects our relationship. If I don't what is going on I don't know what I can do or say to help. My Mom and I talk several times and day and are very open with one another. Because we keep each other informed we continue to grow our relationship even from afar.