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Are Your Words Building Arches or Walls?

Consider for a moment, whether your words are building arches or walls. Both are fine, solid, useful structures. Both have their place in history.


Constructive criticism, a suggestion for improvement, the expression of a frustration … these can build arches or they can build walls. Perhaps the difference between the two is simply timing, tone of voice, frequency, or body language.

Arches create doorways, entrances, two-way passages. They provide support, and are both mechanical and beautiful. Each stone is carefully selected and placed with intention.   Though they are vulnerable to destruction, arches provide strength and an open structure for communication, movement, and flow.

Walls are also built with intention. They are barriers. Their purpose it to separate, keep someone or something out … or in. Walls provide protection, and isolation. From what, are we protecting ourselves with wall-building words? What right do we have to isolate another?

Choose your words, your tone of voice, your intention carefully. Choose whether you’d like to build an arch of movement and open communication, or a wall … the end.

Take good care, my friends.

If you found something of use in my post today, I hope you’ll share it with a friend.  Here’s a link to copy and send via email or on Facebook. http://www.teenytinypieces.com/?p=1374 Perhaps you can facilitate some arch-building communication in your part of the world today.

Many thanks to ignome for the beautiful photo of an Ancient Roman aqueduct.


5 Comments

  1. Ana Maya Ana Maya

    hello my dearest jane,
    i left a message the other day in your phone…now I can seee that you were creating…you are so good !! So keep creating and educating all of us with these beautiful thoughts and photos….
    Love yu
    Ana
    the Arch also I can be and aqueduct to to carry water and life!!!! Remember the one that is in Seville it was from Sevilla to Carmona leinght …muy largo!!!

  2. Ana Maya Ana Maya

    Hello my dearest Jane,
    I left a message the other day in your phone…now I can see that you were creating…you are so good !! So keep creating and educating all of us with these beautiful thoughts and photos….
    Love you
    Ana
    the Arch althought I can also could be and aqueduct too, to carry water and life!!!! Remember the one that is in Seville that run from Sevilla to Carmona leinght …muy largo!!!

    • Hello Ana, darling …

      I am missing you so, and can’t seem to make it to the phone when the time zones are right (right now it’s midnight in Seville).

      I have been busy with many good things that we’ll catch up on.

      Yes, I remember the aqueduct. In-fact, this post originally had a paragraph about aqueducts, their strength, and their vulnerability, as in Ancient Rome … but it wound up being too long, so I will write about that another time.

      Take good care,
      Love,
      Jane
      Jane Rochelle recently posted..Are Your Words Building Arches or Walls

  3. Very good advice… indeed. It’s so easy construct walls unintentionally, isn’t it? Empathy is always a good thing if we have a question as to how to criticize constructively — if we can put ourselves in the other person’s position before talking, we can go a long way to creating a bridge.

    Have a lovely day.
    Diana recently posted..live in the moment

    • Empathy is a lovely tool. It’s absolutely amazing how changing our perspective, and opening our heart to compassion can change the course of a conversation … the course of events.
      It’s great to see you Diana ~
      Jane

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