Language is but a Convenience

Let me start with the quote on my blog: "Language is only a convenience, just like a coat is a convenience, and it is not so important as your mind and your heart" - Zitkala-ša

It’s taken a ton of people to point it out again and again, and yes, a bit of the very little modesty that I shockingly do possess to realize (or rather fully accept) that I am indeed multilingual/multicultural. I had a bit of an epiphany today, when the mayor asked me about what I wanted to do in the future, what I wanted to be, where I wanted to go to, and what other languages I would like to learn.

I realized then that the above quote was finally true for me, finally made sense in my life, and finally has allowed me to open up my mind to the concept of living my life through a multilingual/multicultural framework. I finally find myself (hence where the modesty goes out the window) being like damn! That’s crazy how many languages I know or at least understand. Japanese, English, Spanish, then the understanding of French, Italian, Portuguese (all very similar), the short bout of Turkish I get, the being able to understand but not pronounce many Chinese characters, and now the being able to read Korean, a step forward in being able to speak it.

I remember having a dream, or a wish rather, growing up, that I would want to learn at least 13 languages in my life. This never seemed to me an unrealistic (still doesn’t) goal to achieve, but was more like a “yeah, well duh, language is easy” kind of thing.

But today I realized why I find it so easy. It has nothing to do with me being “super intelligent” or anything like that (I hold hard to the belief that EVERYONE is intelligent and should be honored as such), but it has a ton to do with my ability to listen, most importantly, my ability to listen to myself. Not enough is said about emotional intelligence, it’s a skill we use every day but don’t always acknowledge, one I think we should focus more time on developing.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned in life, and one that is being reinforced by my current experiences, is that we’re all on the same boat. Cultures, languages, sexualities, ideas, beliefs, all that stuff differs from individual to individual, but it’s the fact that we’re in this life together that makes life so much more worth living. And that’s why language is but a convenience. Though it may be one of the most beautiful coats you could ever have, one that expresses you as an individual as part of many cultures, language itself is not the key to understanding. It’s difficult to do, but in trusting your own mind and heart, you begin to trust others, they begin to trust you, and words themselves are less important.

Self-seeking efforts are gone, they disappear, remember, we’re in this together, and suddenly, your life is shared, it is no longer separate, and your ability to listen and communicate is strengthened. So rather than rely on a strict, usually culturally insensitive, translation, rely on your heart and your intuition. Of course, study languages, but don’t beat yourself up about not “mastering” any one language. Truth is, there are no masters, but being able to master your own heart and communicate with others even if the “language” itself isn’t always there, is the true skill. This is why language is but a convenience, beautiful as it may be at times. That’s what went through my head today as I talked in Japanese and thought about the languages I know and the many cultures I appreciate because of it. It’s gonna be a good life.