Signal

You know what's horrible? Having to guess what someone thinks of you. And only having their reactions for evidence. Because sometimes people act the opposite of how they feel, and sometimes they don't. And sometimes they send clear signals (rarely) but most often they don't. And sometimes you're just really bad at reading them.

It's especially a pain when you're worried you might be annoying somebody that you really want to make a good impression on. When you feel clingy or needy or just generally annoying. But you've gotta do it, because there's things you have to know or information you need, or maybe you just want to talk to someone. I think this feeling is probably the reason that everybody hates to have to be the one to text first or instigate a conversation. Especially when they're always the first one. Especially when the response really lacks emotion. It feels annoyed. I don't think we've figured out how to handle that yet. Our world of wonderful technology still has great difficulty with interpersonal communication.

Mostly, I think, clear signals are important. It doesn't matter what it's for or why. It should be okay to message someone first. I mean, is kind of necessary to any conversation that it first be started. And I shouldn't feel the need to panic when I have to text/message/call/generally contact someone because I'm worried I'm bothering them and that they won't like me anymore. It's probably just a stupid concern. Does anyone else share this concern? Am I just going mad?

I'd like to issue a small challenge to everyone out there. The challenge is to send clear signals, especially in your digital communications. Don't leave others in the dark!

If you share this concern, please feel free to contact me somehow. I promise I'll be glad to hear from you.