My first post...ever.

So I'd like to start off by saying I promised myself I'd never have a blog (or be on Twitter, for that matter), but here I am, seeking to use the online communicative resources that are available, hoping I won't be required to break anymore promises to myself. :P Hopefully I can 'add to the conversation' without repeating anyone or going too far off topic.

I don't think I'm alone when I say that this awesome communications class (and it is AWESOME) has caused me to think more deeply about communication than I ever have before. Why is effective communication so important? Why is it that every person on the earth seems to have this innate need to be heard and to be understood by another human being? Just thinking of my need to communicate, I can understand why it was such a terrible punishment for the Lord to confound the language of the people at the tower of Babel, and why the brother of Jared pleaded with the Lord not to confound the language of his family, so they could still have the blessing of understanding one another.

I think this need to express ourselves has brought about many things I would include as forms of communication, including works of creation, such as art, music, and literature. Pres. Uchtdorf said: "The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before." I'm a music major, and therefore love creating beautiful music, and when I perform, I really do feel like I'm communication my thoughts, feelings and emotions with the listeners through the music (which is probably why I'm still extremely reluctant to perform in public...connection with my reluctance to make comments in class or even to post this blog...? hm...). Someone once told me that in order to become a great musician you have to learn to speak through your music without saying anything.

I had an interesting experience in one of my classes today (which actually prompted me to finally create my blog)--for some reason (whether it be the lateness of the hour, or the fact that it was a Monday evening in Rexburg and everyone's brains had already shut down and left campus for the day) no one was making comments. This was a little unusual for this class which thrives on discussion, and my teacher proceeded to explain that speaking up and adding to discussions in class is like taking a step in the dark, an act of faith. You don't always know what you're going to say, but opening your mouths to speak is like an invitation for the Spirit to teach you in class, because when you open your mouth, it's filled. A great example of this is testimony meetings; everyone's afraid to get up and share those things that are most sacred and precious to us (except for those awesome people who for some reason beyond me are never nervous to speak in front of large audiences), but as Pres. Packer said, "a testimony is found in the bearing of it". So not only do we contribute to whatever meeting or class or conversation we may be in by opening our mouths, but we also allow the Spirit to teach and testify and confirm things to us at the same time.

In my class we then talked about how Christ was never afraid to go out of His comfort zone, to go communicate with everyone around Him, even seeking people out. So in essence, getting out of our comfort zones in this communications 150 class and learning how to communicate more effectively is teaching us to become more like the Savior. And now that I've written more about this subject that I thought possible, I look forward to learning more about communication by opening my mouth (hopefully) as well as listening to the thoughts of others. "As we learn to participate together in meaningful associations, we are able to convey our thoughts of love, dependence, and interest." Marvin J. Ashton