moosiclovers

Yes I love you
Yes I love you
All my life
Yes I love you
Yes I love you
All my life
Yes I love you
Yes I love you
All my life
Yes I love you
Yes I love you
All my life

–Unsaid, Little People, Mickey Mouse Operation with sample vocals from Shirley Bassey “As I Love You“, The Bewitching Miss Bassey 1958

There is a fine balance between the spoken and unspoken. It takes a lot of experience, wisdom, and empathy to understand this balance. As open and honest as I think we all should be, I found out there is a line. The spoken and unspoken are both extremely important, and is analogous to “yin and yang”. Yin, “the spoken”, in our society, is given much more attention and respect, than yang, “the unspoken”.

Personal communication can happen in multiple forms, the most obvious being an exchange of spoken words. There is also body language and facial expressions. But…there is one more, which is, a little more inconspicuous, that only the full empath understands. I was better at sensing it when I was younger.

When I was younger, I was shy, laconic, and extremely sensitive. I rarely found myself able to pay attention to what was being voiced in the classroom, but rather I focused on peoples subtleties. I observed the demeanor and movements of my peers. I observed and copied. The people I would copy would vary regularly as my attention and infatuation bounced around the classroom. Not only would I copy the way people walked and talked. I would observe and copy the way people played with their pencil when they weren’t writing, their facial expressions when they were focusing, how they would sit in their chair, and even how they would play with their own hair when they were bored. I would copy everything. It was difficult being discrete about it, there were a few times people caught me point-blank staring.

For the most part, I lived as the Wallflower does. I steered clear of attention and rarely spoke more than what was necessary. I watched life going on around me but I did not “participate”, if I may say so, I was afraid. Ironically, at this point in my life, I listened to mostly instrumental music…music with words tended to disturb my observations. Although I didn’t realize it, I was developing critical skills, in empathy. My quiet observation allowed me to pick up on other peoples energies, emotions and feelings. I understood the genuine expression that belied peoples, often confused, words. This empathy helped in small ways…. A reserved, shy, lonely, classmate, was upset, but no one noticed… so I flashed him a meager smile to show my sympathy. His eyes widened as he walked away…Its the little things that help the yang flow.

But as I got older and more comfortable with myself, I began to find my voice. Although, I was not especially loquacious, I became fairly sociable and easily communicated with others. I listened to music, predominately with vocals, and sang along loudly. I took pride in my new found ease of speech. Years and years went by and hundreds of thousands of words poured out of my mouth like water. I was so happy to be able to fluidly express myself, that I never realized that all the noise from my mouth was drowning out the silent forms of communication, the unspoken. Until it happened…in a relatively commonplace moment…an acquaintance breezed by…I felt a slight shutter…like I had missed something in my oblivion…and I realized that I can no longer sense peoples energies, emotions, and feelings as skillfully as I used to.

I talked too long and too loud.

-A

I write this in hopes that people will remember, that in these highly vocal times, our silent communication is just as important…so maybe we can come to appreciate the yang, the unspoken, and learn to tune in…to understand what belies our brother’s outraged speech…to understand the expression behind the expressionless face of our sister…to empathize with each other and see people for who they really are…you and me.