blog #1

“In social construction, we no longer consider communication something that just is- something static and stationary we can easily examine; rather, we view it as a process, as a messy enterprise we all engage in, searching for meaning in ourselves and each other as we make our way through the world. Meanings become what we create together, not what we discover or reveal.” (pg. 29)

This quote stuck out to me because it shows how complex communication really is. It is difficult to study because there is no exact way to communicate, and everyone communicates differently. In this chapter it covers that studying communication is hard to do in a “lab” and can really only be done in context. In my opinion, we communicate to find meaning. Like the quote says, meaning in ourselves, but also meaning in the world around us, the people around us and the day to day situations we find ourselves entangled in.

We communicate with the people around us to give context to our life. Whether it is explaining how we feel, or asking how others feel, we use this information and create how we think about things and react to things. We talk about what we experience, and this gives meaning to those experiences. For example, when I go through something that makes me distraught or confuses me, I sit on my roommate’s bedroom floor and talk it out. Even when she gives little to no input, I still communicate what I am feeling and when I am done I can usually give meaning to the experience and come to terms of how I feel about it. I can’t explain how I communicate, no one really can, but we all do it, and when we do it we create meanings. Even if you don’t communicate your feelings to others, communicating to yourself by deeply thinking about something can help you put meaning to it.  

Our whole world is centered around communication, yet we seem to struggle with it so much. Maybe before we realized communication wasn’t just one solid, definable, simple thing, we had a hard time finding a way to utilize it. However, the true complexity of communication is surfacing more and more. This quote helped change my thinking of communication by pushing the concept that we search for and create meanings in life. We can talk all we want, but communicating is different. Just as we can create memories and experiences all we want, but the meaning of these things is something that we have to create not just “discover or reveal”. We have to submerge ourselves into life and create the meanings to our life and the world around us. As well as communicating, we need to listen just as much. Whether you are the roommate sitting in her bed just nodding her silent support, or the person laying on the floor talking until your lips go numb, both parts are equally important. I think that we have to listen to how others define their life and create meaning, to do the same for ourselves.

We also have to listen to ourselves. Besides making time to talk something out with yourself, making time to listen to how you are emotionally and mentally are important too. Pushing away your needs is being a bad communicator too. I read a great blog about giving meaning to your life, and it explains how important listening to yourself is.

(here is that blog- https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-26222/5-ways-to-create-meaning-in-your-life-no-matter-the-circumstance.html)