Communication Breakdown: Feelings to Words

We have a couple of different ways to share our interior emotions. It is important that we do so. This type of sharing strengthens relationships. We share our emotional selves in two very different ways. Each has it’s benefits and deficits. Simply put: Sometimes we are showing, sometimes we are telling.

Crying, for example. Crying is an honest expression of feelings of sadness. We are showing how we feel. But our tears don’t come with a gaurentee. Just because we are showing someone how we feel doesn’t mean that they will necessarily understand why we feel that way. We souldn’t assume that it does.

For another to understand why we feel as we do we need to translate our emotions into words that the other person will understand. This in not always as easy as it sounds. Particularly if a conversation is emotionally charged. In the heat of the moment, we may choose words that don’t honestly express our feelings.

This type of mistranslation is the source of many communication breakdowns.