Interpersonal+Beginnings

We all need a starting point, although when looking at communication, we are always continuing the conversation. Someone else started it. Whether a classmate smiled at us, the newscaster gave us the weather report, the school texted us that classes are canceled or someone "friends" us on Facebook, we are continuing the conversation.We cannot live without communicating with others. That is how we all survive. We can say that without communications, survival is immposible. Communication is collaborative in nature, for we construct our reality and our identity based on our experiences and interactions with others. As the author of our text, //Bridges Not Walls,// John Stewart, states, "Every single thing the participants say and do may be understood as a //response// to what preceded it in their lives. No living human is the original Adam or Eve, the first one to disturb the cosmic silence of the universe. An enormous amount of communication precedes everything all of us communicate." So since we are constantly responding and the conversation is enduring, then we can evolve, we can grow, we can progress and yes, we can change. For we are not the same person we were five years ago and perhaps we have been affected by someone or an experience that has affected us, these are the moments that we can recall as our Eureka! moments. How could we be if we are responding to the communication around us. Please tell me your thoughts about communication by adding to this page. How do we change, evolve and transform because of our communication and experiences with others? In our communication with one another we are able to visualize humanity and conceptualize life in another being's context. It is through these conversations that we are able to understand that life can be lived in ways that are different, not necessarily better or worst, than we are accustomed to. =media type="youtube" key="bJx8sfLSbEs" height="344" width="425"= This clip shows how communication can span great lengths and reach many people. They are all connected to each other in separate but related conversations.

I think that our interactions with people can do a lot. Our perspectives change based on our communication with other people and we grow through our relationships with people. While it is certainly easier to grow from a relationship that is more important to us (an I-thou as opposed to an I-it), we can still grow through all of our interactions with other people.

-Josh

=Humans are made human by that happening...Martin Buber =