“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” – Nelson Mandela
I love the metaphor of navigating the high seas. The unknown waters of life, the passages that take us through rough waters, or to be caught in the doldrums and have to wait, to have patience when life becomes slow, or stopped. Sometimes, it seems that the task is to be vigilant, only to sit and wait as the heat builds and the weather is still.
The sea can change without warning, as in sailing, so in life, we must be vigilant, ready to adjust the rigging to catch a fresh wind that may only be a flutter. A flutter can be a promise. To sail away from the doldrums a glimpse of a bluster is all we need. But we must take what is offered and make something of it with our skills.
To sail is to open up to adventure. To take a risk upon raging waters, to navigate a route that leads to a new horizon. To meet new challenges. Maybe do battle with monsters that rise up from the deep.
I am sure sailors have a dialogue with the sea. A relationship that builds through experiencing the character of such a grand mystery.
We build languages to communicate with life. People, places, situations. Sometimes, there is no learned language to use as a building block, so we develop a dialect of our own. We commune with the mystery in life.
With so many languages known we can newly rig our vessel and set sail on an adventure into the world of others. To go there and find out who they are, what they think and how they perceive this life. Not to compare to ourselves, nor to judge them, but to take their language and learn about how those people, in that part of the world, have built a dialogue with their nature, their environment. To learn to speak their language so we can listen and understand.
Language is a mystery. It has depths. When we begin to play with a new language we can feel the rhythms and waves of thought. After diving into how to speak and listen in a new language we feel its swell, its greatness, and how deep it must be. The journey we have chosen becomes a daunting task to navigate.
We have determined our course and will stay vigilant. Every flutter on the jib is a sign that we could catch the wind and feel the first thrust into the waves of this new language. An adventure that will take us into the hearts of those unknown people, we want to use the knowledge of language to banish the thought of foreigner, and together find a wind that carries us as a fleet.
To learn is a slow path. And often we can only see the mass of water around us, the high waves, the rise and fall of our boat, an expanse of words that seem to be wasted on the wind. Our vessel seems insignificant as it floats upon the vast expanse of water. Each day that passes is a battle, but when the wind drops and the sun is setting into the horizon, we ask ourselves why we are here, why learn a new language, who are those people who speak it so firmly. Those words that they spoke, seemed so enticing to my heart. I want to visit their island, to be amongst them to listen and feel the depth of their words sink into my heart so that I can fully understand their feelings, their pain, their fears and their hopes as we all navigate through the storms and squalls of life.