So what is it about communication? Communicating an idea to another human being has the power to cement the idea in your own mind and heart; to really drive the thing home. This we know; it’s not really up for debate. Depending on your learning style, this can be varying degrees of true, but in general, it appears to be a fair generality for the human race.
But there is another consequence of communication, one never intended and possibly less universal. Maybe it’s only me, but I suspect that I am not alone in this plight.
When I have an epiphany, an a-ha moment, a revelation, or any deepening of understanding, I have learned to keep it for myself for a little while, before releasing it out into the general populace.
It used to be that I would jump to share. So much excitement coursed through me that I just had to share whatever it was that was lighting up my little neurons. And it would happen, rather without fail, that my excitement would leave right along with my words, whether written or spoken it mattered not.
More than one life-changer has gone the way of the dinosaur in this manner. It seems that whatever component of a lightbulb moment is responsible for releasing the dopamine, spurring me on into deeper and deeper enlightenment, it lives a life at least partially dependent upon my being selfish. For once I share, spewing my excitement out into the world, that essential part peeters out and dies, leaving me dopamine-starved and wondering what the big deal was to begin with.
I’ve been in denial regarding this phenomenon for a long time, but it is apparent now that it is a very real, and very disappointing, fact of life – at least my life. I’ve yet to figure out if there is some magical crossover point where I have spent enough time in my new thought that it is impervious to the evils of sharing, but I think there is. Further research may reveal an accurate-to-the-hour prediction of when it is safe for me to open my big, fat mouth, but for now, I remain a cautious sharer.
Except for this post. This post is my convoluted effort to turn the curse on itself, telling you all about it, so that it might lose its power just like all the other lively things that I wasn’t looking to dispose of. Time for you to fly the coop, ya’ crappy communication consequence. Good riddance!
A chronological listing of the posts in this series:
- Learning How to Learn – a secondhand MOOC (A what???) (3/25/2015)
- Advice I can finally follow… (4/15/2015)
- Procrastination indeed. (4/18/2015)
- Catch and Release (5/5/2015)
- My Mind Palace… For Real (5/10/2015)
- Completed MOOC – a look back… (9/19/2015)
Tucked happily into the gorgeous hills and woods of Wisconsin, I write about life, faith, and the humor that both require. 
Tales From the Nexus 