Fill in the gaps

I know why the rocks on the road are shiny

Why the colours of the sky are apricot

Pink

and blue

I know why the trees seem alive with extra sparkle this morning

Why do the earthworms wiggle to the surface

And even though it seems inexplicable that they do

It is explainable – it is simply too waterlogged beneath

And even earthworms have to breathe

Though they can’t see the birds that swoop, no doubt they sense their impending doom

Take it on their chinless chins

And surrender

I know why a hawk flutters, holding his position in the air

And why the dog pants by my side, staring into the paddock with such intensity

Because I see the kangaroo too

But I don’t know why you…

Fill in the gaps

Our world is full of lapses in judgement

Lapses in communication

We lack the simple function of looking each other in the eye

Send texts

Post photos

Click like

I can’t even hear the notes of emotion in your voice

So how would I know why….

Fill in the gaps

I could, but I know it would be a mere assumption, a conclusion of hot air that I’m moving around in the space in my head

It means nothing and wasn’t said

I simply filled in the gaps

But I know why the rocks on the road are shiny

*because it has rained again. And I was thinking about assumptions and conclusions and delusions as I was walking along this morning.

Humans are not designed to communicate in what has become the norm so quickly. Text messages and social media posts say nothing, innuendo is impolite, and yet it becomes this haze in the mind which seems vaguely true because that is what our mind does – it fills in gaps. It is designed that way.

To have a conversation with someone face to face is to gather more information than we even realise. Body language, and eye contact, these things lend enormous nuance.

To have a conversation by phone, our mind notes inflections in the voice and picks up emotions resonating throughout the tone and pitch. We can even tell when someone is smiling, and there is probably even more that we pick up on that is automatic and not even registered except for an “I just know” sort of feeling.

Then there is text – perhaps an emoji or two to illustrate how someone is feeling. Because hell knows we can’t tell from a bunch of random words that are barely properly punctuated these days. A comma in the appropriate place? What? Ha! Who has time for punctuation and capitals 😏😳🫤

And then there is the social media post. Ah yes, and the response – it’s a world-class lesson in psychological dysfunction that we have all grown inured to, and yet underneath is a sea of quicksand emotion.

But I know why the rocks are shiny; nature never lies – it rained last night. And my overthinking brain relaxes, no gaps to fill. It just is what it is, and my dog does what he does, and so do I.

Which is why it makes me happy.

16 thoughts on “Fill in the gaps

  1. I absolutely love the rain because it helps me relax too. My brain just shuts down and listens to the rain pouring. Yes, we were not built to communicate this fast and that’s why texting, social media etc has come with its own problems both physical and mental.

  2. Wouldn’t it be nice if our minds allowed the gaps to exist? If we listened more deeply versus inserting our presumptions? A quieter mind — yes, I think that would be nice.

  3. I do love this post, Kate. There is so much truth in it. Miscommunication is rife in the way we and others interact with each other. I do use text and messages quite a lot, but not when I have more definite or important things to say. It’s so easy to read into a text something that we interpret as, perhaps, aggressive or unkind when nothing of the sort was meant. Emojis have quite an impact on me. It’s like an instant expression of whatever the sender is feeling. I’m probably guilty of using them too often. I do like to choose them carefully, though, but who really knows how the other person sees that? It’s far better to have a face-to-face conversation if possible, or at least a phone conversation as the next best thing. Filling in the gaps is such a good way to describe the way we operate with each other. This post was truly food for thought. Thanks for sharing it. Xx 💛

    • Thanks for reading Ellie, I always look forward to your thoughtful comments. I agree about emojis they are very useful, as are gifs – for being clearer in texting. I thought of this as my brother called the other day, one of the few that still call me actually as most people text and it was a really lovely out of the blue long rambling conversation.

  4. We’re not designed to communicate this much either…we shouldn’t be so accessible to others who want to communicate. It’s all part of the invasion of the mind, which we’ve happily accepted as a convenience of our wonderful technology. “When the phone was tied with a wire, humans were free…”

    • I think the phone technology grew so fast that nobody realised the implications of hyper communication, it is an unfolding experiment which we are perhaps only now realising we are paying a high cost for:

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