Summary: I woke up in a sweat this morning, still groggy from the bad dream I had. The dream: An ex-boyfriend I hadn't seen since the nineties was crying in my lap, telling me not to think it meant we were back together, but he wanted me to go onstage with him to accept an award in another person's place.* I agreed to do it, but as I approached the stage, someone shoved a tiny notepad into my hand filled with scribbled lines of dialogue. Five steps from the stage, I discover I'm supposed to be playing a major role in a production I'd never heard of. What's worse is the people trying to have side conversations with me while I'm in the middle of my so-called performance. I'd already been thinking about today's theme of communication before I had this dream, and it's no coincidence that the dream would highlight so much of what I'd been trying to put into words. Scientific research tells us that up to 93% of our daily communication is nonverbal. The things we think and fear and hope for, the way we've been raised, the culture around us, our relative comfort in who we are within and with others—all of it influences the way we show up in the world. It goes a long way in shaping our identities, too. How authentically are you communicating to the world around you? How aligned are you in word and deed in your relationships? What kind of scripts—in the form of biases, ideas, beliefs, and attitudes—have you been handed? In service to true communication, how willing are you to step out of your prescribed roles and into the spotlight that's meant for you? - - - - - * The fact that I was even willing to take credit for an achievement I hadn't earned isn't lost one me here, and I've got lots to say about that in a forthcoming entry.
