Tag Archive | communication

Our times

Apr19

We used to write our e-mails on paper

Then put them in a mailbox

And wait for someone to pick them up

They would then be brought to a sorting place

Put in a car or on a plane

And delivered to another sorting place

Finally, after many days, a mailman would deliver

These messages to the recipient’s home

Now, imagine waiting for a reply!

These days we write hundreds of what were called

Letters in those days in one day

And they are delivered in less than a second

No matter how far or near the destination

There are more advanced systems like

Facebook and WhatsApp or Instagram and Zoom

You can speak your message

Or deliver it in a video

You can video chat from anywhere in the world

You can have meetings thanks to Zoom

Soon, letters we’ve kept from years past

Will become as valuable as antiques

People will look at them with astonishment

And wonder how we communicated in such slow speeds

How times have changed

And how they will keep changing

We should not take what we have for granted

What I just wrote will be read by my friends across the world soon

No mailman, post office or plane needed

April 19th, 2020

Silenced

Nov17

When you stop people from talking

When you close the schools down

When people can’t go to work

And the nation comes to a stop

There is something that’s not right

Something that can’t be explained away

In this age of communication

There is something wrong if you don’t let

people communicate

The seeming peace is a mirage

The embers are burning under the logs

Fire can still erupt from those embers

If the conditions are right

It’s not silence when you cover someone’s mouth

It’s not freedom if you don’t let people talk

November 17th, 2019

Thinking of the people of Iran

The mysterious smile

Oct7

Have you seen someone looking at their phone and smiling

It’s an odd image in a way

The phone can’t be funny, you realize

In reality that person’s attention is somewhere else

Communicating with a friend who can be miles away

You feel a little left out

They smile again and you wonder why

This is the age when distant places come close by

We can communicate with anybody anywhere

So the person on the phone could be smiling

At something their friend in Australia said

Or seeing a picture of their grand child

Taken that day

October 7th, 2019

limits

Dec6

What’s the difference between our interactions online
And those in person
Can’t pretend that the online world does not exist
That’s how we stay in touch with family and friends
Acorss the country and around the world
It’s like letter writing on steroids

The online community is as real as the people who live close to us
We get emotional support from both
We exchange ideas both ways
We bring others cheer both ways

The secret as always is moderation
Anything done to excess is not good
Some limits we need to create for ourselves
No one else can do this for me and you

So the challenge is knowing
When it’s enough
When to stop
When to go offline
I tend to write more when I do
And this poem came to be
Because…
I left my phone accidentally at home

Dec. 5th, 2017

Instant communication

Sep24

These are the marvels of technology
In this age of instant communication
I sit in a coffee shop in Montreal
Write down some thoughts
And put them on my blog

A few minutes later
I notice they have been read
By someone in India or Australia!

We take these things for granted now
But the only way to get one’s writings to Australia
not so long ago was telegram, mail or Fax!
Remember Fax?
And even then there would be one person
On the receiving end
Not a world audience

No publisher is required to share ideas now
We all can share our views and thoughts

I’ll try not to take this blessing for granted
The technology we have access to now
Boggles the mind…
September 19, 2016

How I start my day

Jul20

I start the day with messages of love
A beautiful painting here
A poignant photograph there
A heart warming poem here
Words of wisdom there

And these messages of love
Come from all over the world
Boundaries have been erased
Communication is instantaneous
Our whatsapp group never rests

Voice files make phone calls unnecessary
Technology is the magician of this day

We learn from each other
We support each other
We remind each other of our common past

This group
The cream of the crop
The best there is
Brought together by love and care

East and West represented in different ways
Friendships formed, renewed, and strengthened after many years

Lida Berghuis
July 20th 2015

For my high school class whatsapp group!

Connected world

Jun14

What an amazing world we live in
We are connected through ether*
We travel on the wings of love
Distances disappear magically
It’s like we are sitting side by side

No need to be in the same physical space
To communicate now
Hearts can connect though miles apart

It’s a blessed time we live in
The world has shrunk
It has become one country
We are brothers and sisters all

June 14th, 2015

It was thought that electromagnetic waves travelled
through a substance yet unknown, but called ether!

Confessions of an extrovert!

Oct18

I’m an extrovert
That I know for sure!
For me, being in someone’s company
And conversation go hand in hand
Sitting side by side in silence is almost
Impolite in my book!
It means I don’t want to talk to you
Which means I don’t like you or
I’m angry with you!

But an introvert is OK with silence
Ok with thinking things through when in someone’s company
Needs to day dream more than needs to talk
Has to have a really good reason to talk!

When an introvert is upset
They tend to not want to share what is bothering them
Which makes me confused since I don’t know how to help
And plus, why don’t they want to share what’s going on?
Wouldn’t that make them feel better?
I feel shut out!

I’ve come to learn that
An introvert needs lots of space
Lots of alone time
And problem solving is not a group activity for them
It can be done in solitude most of the time!

And now the hamster ball!
An introvert, I’ve come to know
Has a personal space that can’t be breached
They tend to live in a hamster ball
Be careful when you approach them
Don’t go sit next to them
Let them come sit next to you when it’s time

An introvert finds big social groups draining
They can only take so much company
Then the need to go back to a quiet, comfortable, known place
To recharge!

That’s really hard to understand for me
Because I get energy from being with people
I love small groups, big groups, groups of any kind
I come alive in the company of people
When surrounded by people
I’m in my element
I am where I belong!

I do need down time
Time for me and my thoughts
But an hour or two a day will do
It need not be very long

Understanding an introvert
Is like understanding someone from another culture
Misunderstandings can happen
Flexibility is needed
As well as an open mind and open heart!
But we are all people in the end
There is nothing a little communication
Some understanding
And genuine love cannot resolve!

Lida Berghuis
October 18th, 2014

A work in progress!

Sep16

“You’ve got to let people know if their words hurt you
Staying silent at such times
When emotions churn like torrents in your heart
Is not a good thing!”

Apparently this is called being passive
And I know that it’s not a good thing
In fact, it’s a problematic thing!

The problem with being passive
Is that I pretend to be fine
But I’m anything but fine!

The problem with being passive
Is that I smile
But in reality, I’m ready to cry!

The problem with being passive
Is that I feel powerless
Attacked, yet unable to respond
I don’t want to attack back, just respond
I wear the mask of indifference or being content
But under the mask, I’m boiling mad!

The problem is that this takes me back to when I was a child
And I could not communicate my needs and wants
I sometimes felt powerless back then too, but didn’t even know what was wrong

So, what am I to do now
When I know more than I did before
I just need to feel strong enough
To speak up!
To let someone know I’m not feeling fine
That I feel angry and hurt
That I’m a sensitive soul
And sometimes feel too much!

This is a work in progress for me
I’m much better than I used to be
Most times, I can speak up and speak my mind
I can respond if I feel criticised and feel that
There is more to the story, and we need to talk

But sometimes still
When something comes out of the left field
When I don’t expect it
I can still be taken aback
Be silenced into submission
Feel powerless
Feel wronged!

And that’s OK too
Because life is a school of sorts
Learning never really ends
One does not attain perfection!
One is always a work in progress!

So, I try to learn from my experience and move on
I’m sure I’ll be tested one more time
And then I can show what I’ve learned
And what I still need to work on!

Lida Berghuis
September 16th, 2014

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