NZ Kaminsky's Blog - Posts Tagged "relationships"
Nonverbal communication can hurt — sometimes even more than words.
“The tongue can conceal the truth, but the eyes never!”
— Voland, The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Nonverbal communication can hurt, sometimes even more than words.
A cold glance, prolonged silence, a dismissive gesture, turning away, avoiding eye contact, or a lack of warmth in body language can all convey rejection, disappointment, or disapproval. These subtle signals often bypass rational defenses and go straight to the emotional core, especially for those who are sensitive or attuned to others’ moods.
Because it's not explicit, nonverbal hurt can also be harder to name, confront, or heal from. It leaves space for self-doubt: "Did I imagine that?" "Am I overreacting?" Yet the body registers and senses it very unmistakably. Even before the mind can make sense of it.
It leaves invisible scars.
Have you ever felt that nonverbal communication can wound us, sometimes almost irreparably?
(The Master and Margarita is one of my favorite books of all time. I’ve reread it during different periods of my life, and each time it feels as though the wisdom embedded in this masterpiece has no bottom.
As ridiculous as it sounds, I have a superstitious, almost subconscious fear that something bad will happen every time I read it. Strangely, I can’t even remember if anything ever did, whether even once something occurred as a coincidence. But fears like that seem to have a wild nature of their own.
Natalie
— Voland, The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Nonverbal communication can hurt, sometimes even more than words.
A cold glance, prolonged silence, a dismissive gesture, turning away, avoiding eye contact, or a lack of warmth in body language can all convey rejection, disappointment, or disapproval. These subtle signals often bypass rational defenses and go straight to the emotional core, especially for those who are sensitive or attuned to others’ moods.
Because it's not explicit, nonverbal hurt can also be harder to name, confront, or heal from. It leaves space for self-doubt: "Did I imagine that?" "Am I overreacting?" Yet the body registers and senses it very unmistakably. Even before the mind can make sense of it.
It leaves invisible scars.
Have you ever felt that nonverbal communication can wound us, sometimes almost irreparably?
(The Master and Margarita is one of my favorite books of all time. I’ve reread it during different periods of my life, and each time it feels as though the wisdom embedded in this masterpiece has no bottom.
As ridiculous as it sounds, I have a superstitious, almost subconscious fear that something bad will happen every time I read it. Strangely, I can’t even remember if anything ever did, whether even once something occurred as a coincidence. But fears like that seem to have a wild nature of their own.
Natalie
