As you split hairs about vocabulary or syntax I recognize yet another missed opportunity. Your choice to overlook the message in favor of discussing technicalities has consequences. That door has closed. Some will always open. Some have a finite number. Some doors will never open again.
Trivial matters provide an efficient, long-term distraction. Preoccupation with things effectively creates distance between people. You have things in front of you while people are pushed to your peripheral. Each instance it is decided that technicalities are more valuable than people is yet another negative message sent and received.
Communication does not come easy. Expressing ideas and concepts are challenges. To disregard a person's effort to overcome the challenge of revealing part of their inner being induces anguish not easily forgotten. Chances to grow are lost. Bonds are partially built and then left to fall into disrepair. Revelations are missed. All results of actions and words produced by fear.
It takes bold people to be real and honest. To venture into the unknown and uncover truths. To dive deeper when the water becomes murkier. To focus on each other instead of attempts to clearly define everything. To focus on each other instead of any other substitutions deemed culturally acceptable. Constantly pushing away fear demands conviction that it is better to explore than to safely operate in the realm that has been handed to you.
