iExamen

Breathing is good for you

Observing the way I talk to people was an interesting experience because what I noticed is that often times I do in fact listen to the way I speak to people, sometimes without even knowing it.  By paying close attention to it now I realized that the way I communicate with people is, probably how most people are, based on my comfort level around them.  I am a very outgoing, talkative, and friendly person, and I would like to believe that I am pretty easy to get along with.  All of these things never go away when I am communicating with people, but it depends on whom I am communicating with.

What I have noticed since day one is that I am WAY more comfortable speaking to people in some classes, than I am in others.  In my writing class I always voice my opinion.  I am able to counter other students thoughts and ideas in group discussions without them feeling like I am targeting them, and I am never afraid to talk to the person next to me and joke around.  My body is much more relaxed, I don’t feel as tense, and my mind is racing with thoughts and ideas to share with the class.  Body language is a HUGE thing I noticed in class.  Everyone uses their hands and their expressions to share how they felt about something we read or a paper we wrote.  A big thing I notice in that class are the smiles.  Not just me, but everybody.  We all smile, we all observe each other; we start to learn each other’s habits and even dressing patterns.  We can even tell when something is bothering someone in the class. 

My writing class meets four times a week, and my theology class meets three times a week.  But in my theology class things are much different.  My mind is constantly cluttered with thoughts like, “If I say this will that jock behind me make a rude comment?”  “Can I joke around with this person or do you think they would get weirded out?”  “If I told this person I thought they looked like a TV star do you think they would look at me like I’m crazy?”  I am not usually like this and I’m sure from just having me in class for four weeks even you know, Professor Ellis, that I am a very out spoken person!  But in this class, not so much.  The way people communicate in this class is VERY different from my writing class.  Everyone is quiet and up tight; no one tries to make connections with anyone further then the people to their left and right.  I am constantly tense in that class and most of the time just can’t wait to get out of there.  The dudes dress to impress the ladies but never give most of them the time of day, and some of the girls go to great lengths to show an air of “put togetherness” which probably took them an hour or two to do.  Me?  I get up and get ready in twenty minutes and I am out the door.

When it comes to technological communication things are a little different.  Obviously a person can’t see my expressions on a text messages which requires many of the various symbols: <3, :), :(, :O, :p, and so on and so forth.  Often times a reaction might also require a: haha, LMAO, omg, or the occasional hahahaahahahahahah, depending on the situation.  When I text I always type out words in full but I am more prone to using slang words like gettin, watcha, cya, ima, doin, things of that nature, and often when texting curse words tend to slip from time to time.  I’m still eighteen I’m working on cleaning up the mouth!  Usually when I am emailing it is to an adult and under a more formal tone, but I always add exclamation points anywhere I can to give them just a little taste of my personality and my excitement.  When I am on Facebook my communication is like my texting only less cursing because adults can see my Facebook and I don’t want to get my butt kicked! 

My hour without technology wasn’t bad at all!  In fact, I got a lot of stuff done!  I took out my trash, cleaned my entire room (which is never an easy job), and filled in my October calendar with all my up coming tests, quizzes, and events.  I have to admit that one hour was actually kind of nice.  My head was quiet for once with out hearing any buzzing from a text or jingling from a Facebook message.  I will admit, going into it I was worried that I would need my computer for an assignment or someone would call me asking for help, but I was perfectly fine.  I didn’t mind it at all and it gave me time to organize my life a little bit and breath for once.  I might try turning off my phone or laptop for an hour once or twice a day because it is obvious that I am GUARENTEED to get more work done without their distractions. 

As a result of doing this I realized just how much your face-to-face communication can vary simply by your comfort level around people.  Who would have thought that I would ever be so painfully worried to speak in a class?  I’m not going to lie and say I don’t have a lot to say.  I always have a lot to say, and if I’m not sharing it, either something is wrong or I’m not comfortable with the people around me.  I also learned that an hour without technology is NOTHING, and I could definitely do that again.  Breathing is good for me I should try it more often.