Complete Calm

With 48 hours left before I hop on board a plane heading toward South Africa, a utter and complete calmness has crept over me.  I am not completely packed, I do not have everything I need yet but somehow I am still, quiet and calm.  God is bigger than all things, this trip is about Him and I fully plan to rest in his never-ending arms during the whole trip.

This trip will stretch me beyond my boundaries, I don't have a friend going with me and the team I am traveling with is already bonded so I am the thumb in this hand.  I am the tallest of the group (big shock) so I will stick out like a red headed step-child.  I have never traveled abroad and so the whole experience is new for me.

I won't have internet access like I had hoped so I won't be able to blog about it while I am there but I will take diligent notes and pictures and write when I get back.  Who know's I might even be inspired to finish the book I am working on.

Mehrabian Rule

What is more important, the beginning of a sentence or the end? If your sentence starts with FIRE then it is obviously the leading actor in that sentence.  The boy you have had a crush on for a year starts talking to you and after 15 minutes of stammering and small talk finally says . . . so do you want to go out tomorrow?  Then  the end of the sentence becomes the most important?  

It boils down to actual words, intonation and body language.  There was a study done in the 1960's that said that when you speak, a percentage of what you are saying is verbal, tone and body language.

• Your words 7%
• Your tone of voice 38%
• Your body language 55%.

With this in mind, how do we ever interpret texts, tweets and emails?  We have dumbed down our language into ALL CAPS to express anger or  : )  lol, haha, or jk to express humor or lighten a situation.  Also difficult news gets pushed to a lesser form of communication as to avoid the pain or strong reaction it will be met with.  Example, breaking up with someone through text.  Very easy for the dumper and very  traumatic for the dumped.  But what does the dumped do?  They text their friends what a scumbag the dumper is, those friends take to twitter to spread the word and after 24 hours, everyone knows, nobody cares and the text and tweets have been buried under  100 other texts and tweets never to resurface again.  

 If Mehrabian is correct and words are only 7% of what we are trying to communicate then we need to rethink this kind of quick and easy texting speak we have grown accustomed too.  All the hearts and smiley faces in the world are not going to get across the other 93% of what you are trying to say to me. 

4th yea! fireworks boo!

I am a patriot and enjoy the freedom that my US citizenship entitles me, the firework extravaganza however is not my favorite.  I enjoyed them when I was younger but I do not enjoy sitting and watching nor do I enjoy lighting and running before they explode.

Perhaps we could create a new 4th of July, something without the blown off fingers and searing flesh burns.  Maybe the 4th of July could become a knitting holiday, or a watermelon eating holiday.  Something less prone to accidents.  I will be happy to champion the new cause.  Any suggestions in the "less dangerous holiday activity" box will be welcomed.