Communicating and My Kind of Relatinships

     Communication is one of the biggest things that both blows my mind and gets under my skin. The fact that we can now communicate across the world not just on mobile devices but see each other on a digital screen is amazing. Seriously, think about how this effects the relationships around you. What would your life be like if you still had to hand write letters to communicate over seas? We went from writing to our monthly pen pals to, "So I was face timing my friend from Australia for three hours the other day and we are going to do g-chat later today with her friend from China." WHAT! 

     Along with building relationships, the advancement in technology, in my opinion, has also decreased some aspects of relationships that just breaks my heart. I am mainly talking about texting and online messaging. I have seriously had a conversation with someone through text for four hours about dumb stuff that could have been a ten min conversation on the phone. I could have hung out with them in person and had a meal with them in that amount of time. 

     With the advancement of technology in communication sometimes, I feel like we forget that the person we are talking to is also a person just like us, not just a bunch of words. I hate communicating when I have to type my words. I do not know how they read my words and how it is coming across. I do not feel like I communicate my best when I have to concentrate on spelling. As you can tell from my bogs, spelling is not my strength and I am very insecure about it. Having to concentrate on spelling is the most frustrating and hardest thing about interacting with other millennials and those that do not like to talk on the phone. Giving directions, spilling my heart out, or explaining something is hard enough, but typing it out actually angers me.

     In my current job as a missionary, I do something called Ministry Partner Development (MPD). It is the process of raising support and during an entire summer, I will make over 3500 phone calls to 200ish people. I want to get together with these people and ask them to join my financial team to reach teenagers for Jesus around the world. You would think that asking to partner financially would be the hardest part, but it is trying to get them to pick up the phone. Something about the advanced technology that we have now days has made people too afraid to pick up the phone and have a conversation, or get together in person and have a conversation. It is not only sad because relationships can not be made, but it also makes my job that much harder. Some people really want me to text them my entire presentation.

     Texting is not all bad. I like to text people to see if they are busy and want to hang out, or if they live far, just catch up and chat. I am not into just randomly calling someone if it means that they are at work or in the middle of a wedding or something. Texting also comes in handy when you do not want to seem rude and honk your horn in a quiet neighborhood. Sending a "I am outside" text is great and easy. 

     Being a millennial does not make me a lover of all things technology and communication. I love relationships with other people. I love seeing them frequently and doing life together in person if I am able to. I love hearing their voice and being able to give hugs and high fives. If it takes too much thought and concentration to have a conversation I cannot be myself or feel like I am talking to another real live person. This is just my kind of communication and relationships.