This absolutely NEVER happens to me, EVER! Yet here it is, I am without words, unable to express myself........audibly. What has caused this great change? A trauma that has rendered me devastated? No! Receiving news that is beyond comprehension? Not! Ahh it is but a being, so small and insignificant, yet as powerful as Thor himself. That tiny entity, a spore! An invisible particle that has found it's way into my lungs via my throat leaving me with a case of bronchitis, laryngitis and chest congestion. I feel like I have an elephant on my chest and a raw, sore throat. As long as I don't breathe or speak it is fine....or move, I forgot that. If I avoid breathing, speaking or moving it is hardly noticeable.....and swallow. Yes, that is right. If I avoid breathing, speaking, moving and swallowing I can not even tell I am sick. Wonderful!
So as I sat in my closed office at work today to participate in some big system meetings, I realized I was going to have to make myself heard in an entirely different manner. You see there are big things happening in my world at work. System work, team projects to build, new practice to design, conversations with executives in seven states and for them all I must "speak and be understood" without a whisper of volume available. Now there was the challenge......Be in charge, present my information, defend my position, get my way (win)! Just kidding....sort of. :-) all in silence. Hmmmm
Joyfully there is a feature that is popular now in the multitasking electronic environment in which I work, the IM. Yes it is true. I can now log into a meeting and see the screen, call in and put the call on mute, read my 400 emails, speak at intervals when necessary and IM my deepest thoughts to anyone about anything throughout the day. I pay attention! Today it was clear that I would have to decrease my distractions in order to communicate via this wonderful secondary tool.....IM. So at each meeting I had to identify my "mouth piece" and begin the narration. It was quite entertaining and eye opening.
You see I learned today that of all my gifts, silence is NOT one I do well with. I am Orange for those who do colors, Fall for those who do seasons, Bubbles by nickname for those who knew me in high school, Sanguine for those who do personality types and Loud for those who listen to my mother:-) I do everything making a cacophony of sound. The one good thing is I will never surprise you when entering a room as you will hear me coming from down the hall.
So today, I was required to type at the speed of thought all while placing appropriate punctuation for the reader, aka 'mouthpiece'. As I listened to questions or conversations I had to "voice" my thoughts trusting my surrogate would read and interject my every vital opinion. And when agitated, share my thoughts in a rapid fire succession of rebuttals......of course suddenly realizing that there is no 15 second pause on the call like there is on television. Fortunately my partners in crime (communication) knew me well enough to censor prior to reading the edicts aloud and before long we found we were having the most humorous sidebar while appearing completely engaged. At lightening speed I reiterated any number of thoughts, opinions, ideas. Ah the beauty of technology.
At the end of the day, I still had no voice, but held on to the chest pain, sore throat and gasp with any movement. It is likely I will need band aides to cover the blisters on my fingers from 8 hours of grueling manual communication. Overall I had a very influential day presenting to the masses without saying a word. Not bad. But not to worry, it is not a habit I care to perfect. I will get it back and when I do you will know it, as you will hear me coming:-)
For now I am silently yours!
