iExamen 2- Reserved Communication

             This was an especially interesting assignment because the day in which I observed and reflected on my communication was when I was home with my family. I woke up at home on Saturday morning and came down for breakfast. Since I am usually quiet in the mornings my parents initiated the conversation, my mom was bright, cheery, and especially enthusiastic when she first said good morning (like she always is). I sat quietly, still half asleep as my parents began to ask me questions. Usually I would not respond or I would say a sarcastic remark in response to their questions, but I remembered this assignment. My morning sarcastic remarks are definitely not kind, not useful and not true, so I avoided them all and answered the questions truthfully, kindly, and respectfully; my parents faces revealed to me how shocked they were at how pleasant I was this morning.

As the day went on, I continued to practice self-observation, which limited what I would sometimes say, tweet, and text. Texting allows someone to tell a simple little lie, which I sometimes do, but today I could not state these little white lies.

My sisters and I are all close in age and friendships. Me being the middle sister I am able to see, hear, and understand both sides of an argument. It also allows me to easily switch from one sister to another in an argument. When my sisters and I started to get into an extremely dumb fight of where we should go to dinner and who should drive, I thought about what I was going to say before I said it. Normally if we were in a dumb argument with them, I would say dumb, sarcastic and potentially rude comments, just as they would, but today I stayed quiet and reserved. What was interesting to me was even though I was not saying anything in order to avoid the argument; I still had a completely opposite opinion compared to my other two sisters. My sarcastic thoughts just stayed inside. Because of this reflection I realized that sarcasm can be very rude at times. My sisters noticed my lack of involvement and they quickly came to a resolution between the two of them; however they didn’t comment on my abnormal behavior.

Communication along within these parameters helped me communicate better. I also feel like I also bettered myself. Hurtful things are often said, tweeted, and texted because they go unnoticed, but by taking a few more seconds to think about what is being said someone’s feelings can potentially be saved. I assumed that this reflection would not affect me because I never intentionally say anything that is not kind, useful, or true; however I assumed wrong. This reflection emphasized the importance and meaning of different words. I definitely gained a new perspective and patience for communication by observing the way I normally communicate and myself.