💡Communication is the most essential skill to learn for success in life.
It’s a skill that everyone can learn to improve no matter your age.
My kids have special needs (sons diagnosed with autism-a social/communication disorder) and my older daughter has partial hearing loss.
I’ve had to adapt:
✨ Learn sign language
✨ Advocate for special education services
✨ Take my son to therapy sessions
Today this little girl starts speech therapy!
Yesterday she had a hearing screen done at school for the deaf (we wanted to rule out that her ears weren’t an issue for the speech delay).
At one time I contemplated being a speech pathologist.
💬 Communication is my passion and I love learning new ways to help others.
My experiences helping my kids communication delays helped me improve my ability to tailor message to my audience (writing) and my employees as an assistant manager at a grocery store.
Editor’s note: Article originally published on April 11, 2017.
I mentioned this analogy a few weeks ago when referring to the spiritual life, but I like the tangibility of it so I will mention it again. Saint Teresa of Avila likened the soul and its journey in the spiritual life to the navigation through a large a castle whereby our soul consists of several mansions. When I talked about this image with my parish’s discipleship group, I half-joked that I not only have mansions I need to order but also lots of “cellars of my soul” I need to examine and clean out.
Save the Best Wine
On a serious note, I firmly believe there are many cellars within my soul I need to discover and maintain. A common definition of cellar means “of the lowest rank or grade”. Another usage of the word cellar is in relation to place where wine is stored. I have never actually lived in or owned a home with a cellar. However, I have tasted wine and I have experienced years where my favorite sports team resided in the cellar of the league standings.
Inside the Cellar
Going back to the image of our Christian spiritual life as exploring the recesses of our interior castle, I have pondered how I might be able to reach the depths of my soul. I think one practical way for me to start this journey is to begin working with a spiritual director. According to St. John of the Cross, a director [spiritual] should be learned, prudent, and experienced.
Try as I might, I have yet to get past a certain threshold in my spiritual life. I am hoping that by adding a spiritual director and going on a silent retreat later this year that I will be graced with the help to access my spiritual wine cellar. Here I hope to share my spiritual gifts with others and give greater thanksgiving to God. But first, I need send that simple email. I will keep you updated on my journey through future posts. I humbly ask for your prayers as I begin this journey to explore the cellars of my soul.
