connections

words are sometimes a clutzy way to communicate.
words lack precision.
words require mental translation.

words force us to play an internal game of telephone,
whispering the message to ourselves,
reverberating back and forth as the mind seeks patterns.

the mind messes with the message
as much as a chain of conniving, deceitful interpreters,
misunderstanding & shaping & rejiggering the original
into what they want us to hear.

some educators tell stories
to make an end run around the interpreters,
to convey meaning even when a few details are out of whack.

others turn to multiple media.
if i hear it, see it, smell it, taste it, feel it, try it, practice it, challenge it, & teach it,
the better the odds that i will learn it.

all of which makes one wonder why
we cling to words
as if words are the only way
to teach
and to learn.