#aboutthings

When I was growing up, we weren’t encouraged to talk about how we felt. And although nothing was said, we learned very quickly that reaching out was a sign of weakness, not a sign of strength. We learned not to talk about how we felt.

As a child I wanted desperately to talk about things. I not only had physical weakness through a disability I knew nothing about, but my mental and emotional feelings were shot. I knew I was different. It’s time to talk about how we feel, for others to listen to us, and for us to listen to others.

Talking isn’t a sign of weakness, talking about how you feel is a gutsy thing to do. It’s not only telling the other person you have something to say, but it’s clearing things up for you; it’s finding resolution.

The word dis-ease means ill at ease and that’s when illness sets in. When we talk about things, we keep illness at bay. There is a fine dividing line between staying well and becoming ill. The more we keep things inside, the more we invite illness in.

Although I learned early on that I couldn’t talk about how I felt, that yearning of wanting to talk never left. There is no doubt for me that finding resolution if we can’t achieve it by ourselves, comes when we talk openly about things.

National Conversation Week takes place this year from the 18th to the 24th March. It aims to encourage more of us to engage in conversations, both in our personal and professional life.

Whether it’s catching up with old friends, speaking and making conversations with work colleagues, most of us will email, text, or post a message on social media, rather than take the time to pick up the phone and speak to someone.

Society and the world have become a tech nation. We’ve moved away from the personal connections we had where conversations were more important than texts and emails. Since the introduction of email and the mobile phone that incorporates apps like WhatsApp and text, we pick up the phone less.

Where mobile phones have been introduced to children so they can stay safe, and they’re encouraged to stay in touch with family and friends when they’re not with us, they should continue to be encouraged to pick up the phone to their families, so that their families can continue to stay close.

When I was growing up, I didn’t have the use of a mobile phone or a computer. But parenting in the early years is very much instrumental in how children behave in their adult years, so it’s up to us to lay the foundations more.