Words are a huge part of my life, as a blogger I depend on words to convey so much of I what I am trying to get across to my readers, the dilemma is words are simply, words. What I mean is a word by itself is a word and it doesn’t convey a lot, whereas as you string them together to form a sentence they start to come together to form what I am trying to say. However, language only accounts for seven percent of communication, so I can I truly get across to you what I am trying to say?

As I write this I have a tone that I can not convey to you, and if I was talking with you in person you would also see my facial expressions, my body language and the my mannerisms. When I am writing a book, it is a little easier to convey more as I can add in information about a characters tone, or intent, but with blogging, well it is more like writing a diary. I can add in exclamation marks or perhaps underline a particular word, or sentence. I can type certain things in capitals or in bold to give you an idea of how strong my point of view may be on something, but to truly grasp the feeling behind the topics I write about you would need to be sitting opposite me.

I think that is a huge issue with email and text messages, it is so easy for it to be taken out of context, and I know my teenager (if not with her friends in person), only communicates with friends via text message, or instagram message. When I was young and used to come home from school I would be on the phone, and yes we couldn’t read body language, but a the very least we could hear tone. It is any wonder teens wind up confused and hurt more than they need to be. Once I said to Aspen to call her best friend to confirm something, you would think I was asking her to clean her room! She rang the friend and they spoke for like two seconds, it is like they no longer know how to communicate via a phone conversation.

Texting is much more convenient though, I have to admit I don’t have time to chat for hours with my friends of an evening, but a text back and forth every now and then over hours is an easy way to catch up. I have to admit I enjoy using the GIF options to help convey my feelings or mood, and they make me laugh.

As a parent I sometimes wish that my teenager was living in my era, where I was stuck on the chair near the phone where anyone could pretty much listen in on my “private” conversation, (gosh I hated that!) Aspen, and even April now text away to their friends and I have no idea what is going on in their lives. I can hope they tell me, but I also remember being a teen and there was plenty I didn’t want my mum to know!

Obviously as a blogger I am grateful for being able to get onto my laptop and type away and then email out my latest post to my subscribers, I mean imagine if I had to hand write hundreds of letters and post them each time I wanted to share some random thoughts with you! Times have changed rapidly since I was little and I am not that old, there is plenty of great things about the ability to text and email I am in no way denying that, but there are some nostalgic moments where I miss the way it was. Maybe it was harder, but somehow simpler too.

In a busy world, and at a time in my life where I am rushing here and there, and my home is full of the beautiful chaos of 3 vibrant children, dogs and cats, it is amazing that I can just text my bestie and know she knows I love her even if we don’t always have time for the deep, or even silly chats, because she is also busy with two boys, a third if you count her hubby, and some dogs, and lives at the opposite end of the country to me! But, I guess we also need to remember that sometimes those talks are still needed, and that not everyone has so much in their life, like for example a grandparent who may now live alone and can’t get out as much. A call to them, or that personal visit really matters!

Well that’s my random thoughts today, how do you feel? Do you feel texts are easily misinterpreted, or that we are getting better at conveying feelings and intentions through words now? Do you still enjoy a chat on the phone, or does it drive you crazy when people ring instead of sending a simple text? Love some feedback.

Thanks for reading today, love Mackenzie xx