Broken Telephone

When I was a child, one of my favourite games in school was broken telephone.

Our class teacher would have us sit in either a circle or a square ensuring that friends never sit next to each other. Once each of us had determined our preferred position, the teacher would instruct us to pass on the message that we would be receiving from the person next to us and whom would then pass it on to the following person. Once at the end of the line, the last person would loudly state this message to the rest of the class with the teacher clarifying if it was indeed in its original form.

As can be imagined, there were several times when by the time the last person spoke up, the original message was lost and a shadow of the truth remained much to everyone’s amusement.

However, thinking back  and relating it to these recent adult times.

How many games of broken telephone do we play with real phones and real people’s lives with words that have real consequences?

Within nature, sharing of information in an efficient and accurate manner determines the level of growth and development that may occur or, the level of destruction or stagnation that could be introduced. As much as we try to differentiate ourselves, we are no exception to this universal rule. Our means of communication has perhaps been one of if not the key factor leading to us becoming such a monumental force on this planet. Each aspect of our lives ranging from socializing, feeding, rearing, educating and trading require well defined lines of communication acting like a road map for those travelers journeying towards a destination they share. 

It hurts and yet invigorates me deeply to have discovered that as we are traveling, there are those who have agendas of their own and will not hesitate to give you signals leading into the dark abyss of selfishness. Adults are essentialy children with developed bodies and more information stored for guidance mostly graduated from a controlled environment, to a vast network of several uncontrollable inputs still requiring to be shared.

Just like the classroom, the integrity of the sender is as vital as the honest assessment of the receiver since in this game there is no teacher overseeing the end result. We all are responsible for each other, but most importantly, we are more responsible for ourselves and each action we take or do not take. Whether it is through our words, our actions or our views each of us have great responsibility in this reality with every single thing we do having a cost to ourselves and our surroundings.

‘’It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles the soul.”

There are too many times we lead travelers across paths with selfishness as signposts, half-truths as shoes and chaos as the destination where fear, lies, hatred and disconnection become the destination and no true development takes place. It is a sad, sad existence when you live only for yourself and it is even sadder when you can forget that this life is a collective experience and only when we share and grow together do we truly reap the fruits of communication. For our differences were meant to be celebrated yet the same universal force that brought us here, is also testing us to see how we may bring forth the true nature of togetherness that resides deep inside creation.

Like when I was a child, the game continues with several more players and undoubtedly severe consequences.

What message are you sending?

Olga Shanshasen