When describing a problem a feeling or a situation in our lives we often revert to the words ‘good’ or ‘bad’.

That’s really limiting.

That, and we get stuck in all kinds of story details to set up this wonderful diagnosis.

Imagine doing this with your car at a mechanics:

We were driving home from the barn. The back of the van was filled with liquid fertilizer from a manure lagoon. The van started making a terrible sound then we stopped. Not long after that we had to get out. The windows were closed. We couldn’t open them. It was bad.

Any decent mechanic would likely ask you to describe the ‘bad’ sound in a bit more detail.

I’m a huge fan of onomatopoeia. I could imitate a dying car in many ways. As such, I have had many a mechanic look at me funny and say - “So, it was a high, screechy, whine, followed by a thud?”

Well. Perhaps not that specifically but you get the idea.

Now. I’m certain that you, dear reader, have some people in your life that you like to relate to. There’s someone there who asks you how are things going. You must get that kind of attention from time to time.

And next time this happens?

Try to avoid the good / bad / fall into the story pattern.

Try this instead. Describe your day as a sound. Imitate this sound for them. If you had a bad day, what kind of sound does it make? Was it a plane crash, a car wreck or a sinking ship?

How could you use just non verbal sounds to tell the story?

In doing so, you share more than your simple idiocy.

In doing so, you include a description of how things moved from one event to another.

Moved?

Yep. Moved. Sounds come from vibrations. Vibrations are mini movements of course.

And?

How satisfying would it be to merely be heard for a moment about a crap day, then able to move on without dwelling in the dirty of the narrative details?

It’s like the old saying goes:

Watch out Batman! Bif! Bam! Pow!