Learning To Talk, With Someone Who Can’t

Bowie + her cousin (looking like drowned rats after a swim).

Learning to talk, with someone who can’t

Bowie knows what she wants in life.

But Bowie doesn’t have many words.

Sounds like most kids, right?

Except Bowie is 4.

Whilst a typical 4-year old would be asking ‘Why?’ 368 times a day and tearing around a playground, Bowie struggles with the most basic tasks.

Simply staying upright whilst walking is difficult.

Language is also a big challenge - especially when combined with physical fatigue.

To us, losing a toy seems trivial. But for Bowie, searching for it takes a level of focus and energy that’s overwhelming … and it shows in her communication.

She does her best to wrap her tongue around the words she’s seeking; points, gestures and issues increasingly demanding dictates.

In other words, she screams a lot - a challenge far greater than anything I face in business, both physiologically and psychologically.

Viewed through the lens of ordinary life, Bowie is difficult, and demanding.

But more often than not, the screaming is just a plea to be heard.

She will often attempt a word, and repeat it again and again with increasing volume until she is hysterical.

But the moment we say the word she is searching for, she instantly calms.

And that, is a perfect illustration of all humanity.

Business or personal, we’re all just looking to be seen and heard.

I hope, in whatever you’re navigating - someone notices, listens, and empathises.