We each have five senses, but its primarily our ears, eyes and touch that perceive our surroundings and through which we communicate our learnings and experiences with others.
We each have a preference or stronger leaning to one of our senses making us predominately
- an aural person
- a visual person or
- a kinaesthetic person.
The simple art of perception and expression is not a one size fits all.
We don’t all absorb the wonders of this world and convey it in the same way ~
- some of us hear it and recount it in words,
- some of us see it and illustrate it as a visual and
- some of us feel it and express it through our hands and bodies.
If you haven’t previously thought about where your leaning lies your language could be telling you. Are you more likely to say -
- “It doesn’t sound right… I hear what you’re saying… Its as clear as a bell
- “It doesn’t look right… I see what you’re saying… It appears to me
- “It doesn’t feel right… I’ve got a grip on what you’re saying… It goes hand in hand
Interested in knowing your predisposition? Here are a couple of quick tests to find out your primary communication or learning style.
I’ve often wondered why if teachers understand that we have different learning styles that they don’t accept this three tier approach to assignment submission. How often do you hear a teacher give you the option to respond to a question to either:
- write a dissertation on the life and times of xxx OR
- visually portray the life & times of xxx OR
- create a model that conveys the life and times of xxx?
However, while not being able to choose during our school years there is no reason why once we’re free to be our own person that we continue to adhere to the ‘written word’ structure of expression alone. Although shaking off years of wearing this number one method of communication mantle takes time.
In my last post ‘Do you Write, Draw or Collect in your Travel Journal?’ I illustrated how my first travel journals were totally word-centric from my years of traditional schooling.
But over time I’ve relaxed into what for me is a more natural mode of story telling that incorporates a wider range of techniques.
Like the entry above that combines words and drawings that are not works of art, or finished masterpieces but squiggly doodles and diagrams that will simply enhance my visual memory in years to come.
We underestimate the variety of expressive techniques available to us due to an assumption that we lack the skills or prowess to employ them.
From years of believing we’re either the academic who writes, or the creative/artistic type where our imagination is allowed to run riot with a bottomless pot of mixed mediums – in reality we can all experiment and play.
I love this TED talk recorded at the 2008 ‘Serious Play’ conference with Tim Brown talking about creativity and play and how our freedom to be creative, which is sparked by play, is stifled as we enter adulthood.
Think of all those options of expression that are open to us, if only we dare try. The creative industries are not exclusively the right of elite artists, sculptors, craftspeople and artisans…
- We can all illustrate visually with diagrammatic doodle drawings, splodges of paint or print with rubber stamps.
- We can all express kinaesthetically with our hands creating compositions from found treasures and materials.
- We can all let emotions flow from our bodies through dancing, performing and miming.
- Or if we’re still too afraid to play we can always collect artefacts of tactile animal, vegetable and mineral objects.
I’m neither an academic who can write, nor an artist who can draw but…
I’m taking the plunge to try methods of communication outside my comfort zone and being brave sometimes brings surprise rewards. 
There are barriers to be broken and assumptions to be revoked such as
‘I can’t draw’
or
‘My handwriting is rubbish’
For when travelling we need to be able to communicate our thoughts and feelings and translate our experiences into something that can transend time and be comprehensibly re-liveable in years to come.
This series of posts will demonstrate some of the many alternative ways to
convey and express your holiday highlights…
but for starters ~
Are you an aural, visual or kinaesthetic kind of person?
How do you best express yourself?
With your Ears… Eyes… or Touch?
