P.P.S. on Clarity

Yesterday I was talking about the Clarity post with a colleague.

He suggested that another aspect I'm probably dealing with is emotional clarity.  He has a relative with Alzheimer's who is beginning to lose words.  He believes that this is immensely frustrating for her--she wants to say something but literally can't find the words.  He said that he is trying to learn to engage with her emotions even when he can't engage with her verbally.

I was thinking about that tonight, and the various ways it shows up.  I remembered the Hamming It Up post I wrote a few weeks ago.

When Middle Son came to request something from me a little while ago, I went out of my way to be excited about his request.  I put some juice into my words and my posture.  I wanted to communicate to him "hey buddy, I REALLY want to know what you want so I can HELP you!"

It worked.  He frequently makes very small gestures that are hard to interpret then runs off before I've figured it out.  This time, he pointed clearly and waited until I had taken what he wanted off the shelf before he ran to the table.

I knew this.  I've seen it before.  And I forgot.  I'm glad that I was reminded.