"Strong" self disclosure example

Yesterday, KMHS was honored with having a guest speaker come in and deliver some important messages to the student body and staff as well entertain us with some strength tricks.  John Pritikin shared some very personal stories about his childhood and struggles he experienced growing up.  He was delivering self disclosure after self disclosure that left me laughing at time and crying at others.  He was an amazing story teller verbally and nonverbally.  I wasn't sure what to expect when I heard he was coming to speak, but I have to admit, I was really impressed. At the base of his message, he challenged us to mindful of the messages we are sending and be there to help each other out when we need it.  I'm hoping that both of those become common KoMet behavior.

Under 200

Earlier this week, my husband and I were talking about our budgets. We are a Financial Peace house and follow most of Dave Ramsey's guidelines for budgeting. When we were talking about one of our "envelops" in the system, my husband said we had to be careful because we were "under $200."  What he meant is that we had less than $200 in that fund, $168 to be exact, but because I was not being a mindful communicator and not taking focusing on all his words, I misinterpreted the "under 200" as we were negative $200! I immediately started asking questions because I had no idea how that could have happened. Once he clarified for me what he meant by "under 200," we were both back on the same page. This is an example of ambiguity in communication since were each interpreting the same words differently.

You're Welcome?

First, I have to admit that I absolutely love the movie Moana, probably even more than my son does.  My church is doing a sermon series using songs from the movie. While watching the clip of Maui singing "You're Welcome" on Sunday, I realized the song starts out with contradicting perceptions.  Moana thinks that Maui took the heart of the Te Fiti selfishly and needs to return it because resources like fruit and fish are dying off due to his actions.  Maui thinks his stealing the heart was giving more power to humans and that he should be thanked for it. Both feel passionately about their viewpoints, but neither is willing to compromise.

Picture Perfect Nonverbal

Unless you were in my 1st block class yesterday, you didn't hear about my extreme discomfort with the standing-up pose for pictures yesterday.  Upon being told I had to stand with  my hand folded in front (I asked if I could be "sassy" with my hands on my hips and was shut down), I'm pretty sure my nonverbal communication was CLEAR. I was not comfortable nor happy with this new picture pose.  I'm afraid that same nonverbal communication will come back to haunt me when I get my new staff bad because I'm pretty sure it's not a sincere smile on my face at all. Nonverbal communication often speaks "louder" than verbal communication.

Ambiuity can be funny

Although miscommunication isn't funny, ambiguity can be. It can cause arguments and even bigger problems in relationships, personal and professional.  Laughter, though, can help in learning and remembering.  So to help you remember the concept we started with today, I give you an ambiguous comic!