Making Special Moments Special

Here is a question: What creates a bigger stir: an actual breaththrough such as a cure for polio or finding out about that discovery? What triggers more robust celebration: the discovery of a new land, to cite another example, or being told of this new finding? The point here is not necesarily to get any one to choose between the two. Rather, it is to suggest that communication is a necessary part of any notable moment - good or bad. As Francis Darwin, botanist and son of Charles Darwin, once observed: "In science the credit goes to the man who convinces the world, not to the man to whom the idea first occurs."

On a more personal scale for all of us, every year we all have a birthday. The inevitable result of that is people around us - generally family and friends - acknowledge it in some way. They greet us with a "happy birthday" wish, perhaps take us out to lunch or dinner, or even buy us a present or two. But how do they know where to take us? From where do their ideas come as to what present to buy us? The answers, of course, come from us. We make it known what kind of foods we enjoy eating as well as what gift we need, want or both. Our birthday is a special moment made all the more so by our communicating it.

This brings me to the old question about the tree and the forest. Does a tree that falls in the forest make a sound if no one is around to hear it? Rather than just give a straight "yes" or "no" response, from a communication standpoint, my answer is the tree makes a noise only if there someone around to communicate it. Action and reaction derive from at least some degree of knowledge. We people do not do what we do in a vaccuum. While our base or understanding of particular information may be questionable at times, it is the element of communication that sets in motion our thoughts and/or action. The two cannot do anything but go hand-in-hand.