Sign Language

Sure, we all know sign language. Flipping someone the bird, guesticulating while having a conversation, it is amazing how much hands can say. Hands say volumes - sometimes more for others, sometimes less (people are so varying, you know. Some people are very active speakers - I am - big surprise, right? Others don't move at all. Amazing). And bodies communicate a lot. There is sign language and there is American Sign Language (I only know a little bit) and then there is the sign languge I know - body language.

Laugh all you want.

So many people come in to see me and it is funny, because I know if he or she really has something serious on his or her mind. Sometimes I don't - there are some people who have too much rigidity or just don't emote the same way or whatever. But most people do. You can see it in the posture, the way he or she moves, the set of his or her hands or arms or the expression on his or her face. That is the easiest thing to hide. I normally don't. I think it should be easier to read people and what is going on in his or her head. Unless I have to hide my emotions. I always have a poker face when I terminate people. I can't imagine what my face does look like, but I think it looks the same for all. But normally, I have a lot of expression.

Body language is funny, as it can give away the secret emotions, but some people can really hide what is on thier minds. I wonder what that must be like, but I don't want to be that way. I obviously can't do espionage... I imagine that requires a really straight face... but I can do what I need to when I need to. And I have no idea what my body language says.

Imagine, though, that signing is all you have. It is all that there is, you are in a silent world. I love music, I need music, and how do you live in a silent world? There are so many things to hear, so much that is beautiful to hear and so much that is not. The honk of an air horn (a noise I know well), the sound of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, the earsplitting shriek of baby (granted, no one is missing anything there...) It was staggering how much noise one little 18-month old kid could make. Unreal. The sweet notes of a bird, the caw of a bluejay. The purring of the cat, the chittering of squirrels. Tires screeching, the sound of a motorbike. The feeling of an airplane taking off, the sound of one passing overhead.

But music! The world needs music. What can bring out emotion more than music? Signing is beautiful. I love to see it - it is poetry with hands. It gives language to those who are hearing impaired or sompletely unable to hear. It opens a whole new world to the deaf and that is a great thing. But I have my hearing. I have tinitus (is that spelled right?) or ringing in the ears, and it scares me, it scares me to my bones. I love music. I need it. It makes life good when it isn't and the sun shine brighter. Weather is just weather - even when you are driving. That is life. Driving to work and home is life - not just part of it. I look forward to my drive to and from work - it is uninterrupted music time! Although I was happily singing out loud in my office, and I rarely do that. I know exactly how bad my singing voice is!

I hope tomorrow is that good!