Think Before you Speak? Try speaking before you think.

Posted on October 24, 2007
Filed Under Fake Culture, Society |

It seems to me, that every popular idea is backwards. Sound-bites like the title of this post, just make things worse. “Think before you speak.” In my youth, that was said to me a lot of times - it got drummed in so hard that by the time I was in my early twenties, I had great difficulty in expressing myself; for no other reason than I would always think before I spoke. The thing is, speaking and thinking are completely unrelated; speech doesn’t arise from the thought process…speech is a part of our faculty of language.

That may sound odd, but take a step back from it for a moment. Have you ever held a certain perspective or belief - maybe for years - then one day spoken that belief, only to find that it sounds nonsense? Or perhaps you discovered you had difficulty in expressing an idea? This is because when we hold an idea in our head, it is abstract - whilst speech is a physical form; two very different things.

Putting ideas into language - either written or spoken - has a way of solidifying that idea. This is why discussions and conversations can create entirely new perspectives. The abstract becomes concrete.

We all hold certain beliefs and notions about ourselves, and many of us never openly discuss the more darker or subtle aspects of our personality. These ideas therefore stay in our minds as abstract ideas - or worse still get buried in the recesses of the sub-conscious. On some level we know the truth about the distinctions between thought and language, it is one of the reasons why we avoid certain subjects - especially when they are about ourselves.

“Think before you Speak”. Thinking is why many people actually choose not to speak about certain things. Perhaps we would all be that much better off if we took the reverse approach; speaking before we think.

We fragment our minds with inner conflict and self doubt, and then willfully remain silent about those matters. All manner of things fester and grow within the darkness of self-ignorance (after all let’s be blunt - that is what I am talking about), yet we are conditioned to fear opening up and shining a light on our inner self. We erect barriers and live our life as though we are shrink-wrapped.

Sometimes we fear to speak because of the reaction it may generate in others. But again that is just a reflection of the same process going on within their minds. They hold abstract ideas and beliefs which hit hard against the buffer of your physical words. Yet again this can potentially return us to a state of inner conflict; that is confusion between what we want to say, and what we are expected to (not) say.

It is quite amazing how words can begin the process of opening us up, not just to others - but also to ourselves. We just need to set ourself the task of communicating openly. Let the words come, and then see what you think of them. Say what is on your mind, and then see what you think about it. Turn the abstract into a concrete form and see if it holds up, or is entire nonsense. You don’t have to begin with big things, just start simply by removing that barrier of hesitation between wanting to say something, and thinking about saying something. And if all else fails, just write it down.

Comments

2 Responses to “Think Before you Speak? Try speaking before you think.”

Dave on October 26th, 2007 2:28 am

Amazing wisdom. I could not agree more! Thank you for explaining this.
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Vimala on November 1st, 2007 4:14 pm

Very liberating!
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