Communication

Getting things to happen somewhat as you’d like them to involves a lot of communication, often with lots of different people, lots of the time, some of which will be in person. As you know the content is secondary to the tone and body language in terms of getting your message across, the success of which depends in part on how animated and therefore fascinating your face is as you communicate and you’ll notice a most bizarre but useful fact in this connection next time you find yourself verbalising your needs and/or desires to someone: when your hands are still, your face is far less animated.

When your hands are moving as you speak, your face becomes more animated and so more interesting, hence riveting, thus enabling you to more easily hold the other’s attention long enough to adequately convey your message and elicit the requisite empathy. This also has the obvious added advantage of providing peripheral entertainment in the form of hand swirls and so on.

Become aware of how you talk with your hands and spare an occasional thought for making your hand gestures beautiful – not just beautiful to watch but, more importantly beautiful in a sensory way, as if you’re doing Tai Chi when you talk.

Concentrate on feeling the subtle magnetic connection between the two palms as they glide through the air. Make your movements smooth and graceful, rounded and expressive. The more expressive your hands, the more expressive your face and, wonderfully, the more expressive your voice.

So next time you’re in face-to-face conversation, eschew old prejudices about the evils of talking with your hands and instead celebrate life with every pass through the air.

You’ll be delighted with the results.

In fact may you be so delighted by life today and tonight in any case, dear reader, it’s all you can do not to go dancing in the middle of your nearest shopping mall, singing, ‘Barefoot is a brick,’ in full voice for all the world to hear.

Love, Barefoot