Once upon a time, I had this craving for something sweet, so mom and I went to market to get some candies. Mom placed me right in front of the candy shelves so that I was able to see EVERYTHING. I could not decide what I wanted, and it became a long dialogue between mom and me about what I want.

Imagine for a while how such a conversation would go and how long it would take. When someone is saying one letter than the other spelling the word; then they go to the next word and so on until we finish the sentence. When a sentence is done, they reply and so do I afterwards meaning that we start to spell again. You can imagine that this requires patience because it would take some time to get it done. Suddenly we realized that about ten little boys had gathered around us just trying to figure out what was going on. How can that woman understand what she was saying when she was just rolling her eyes! It was so funny that it was hard to hold our laughs. We forgot about the candy and just left.

It is unbelievable how well you can get along with only expressions without using any words. Through time, people have forgotten a little, how to express themselves without the use of words. Not so long ago the art of ballet was one of the main forms of entertainment. In addition, the ballet is all about expressions, telling a story just on movements, showing emotions bringing up feelings, even making people cry, only by the way they moved. Just as the ballet dancer could bring tears to your eyes, a mime can bring you to laugh without words. Just by expressing him / herself through motions.

Body language signals happen on both a conscious and unconscious level, and although body language is non-verbal or non-spoken, it can reveal much about your feelings and meanings. It also can show how others feel about you. It is significant to communication and relationships.

It would be a great idea if in schools would have a subject called “body language and nonverbal communication” make it a day about communicating without any use of words. Trust me you can learn a lot from people and about yourself if you spend a few hours interacting without using any words, no talking no writing. Just expressing.

As an effect of being paralyzed, I became so much more expressive. I have less control over my emotions and my body just reacts to them. It shows how deep these emotions are by the strength that it stretches out.

The stroke did somehow mixed my expressions up. For example, when it comes to tastes. For instance, the food can be heavenly, and I make a face as if I have never tasted something so horrible and other times I give the right face for the taste.

Therefore, you cannot say anything about flavors according to my facial expressions.

I can use only a fraction of my facial muscles. However, these few facial expressions make a world of a difference. You can imagine how important facial expressions are in my situation. It can save us a lot of time and stress when I can let somebody know what is going on without the use of spelling out the words.

Kati