What sounds like noise to one person…
May be music, meaning, and identity to another.
Every language tells a story.
Every culture carries a treasure.
I do not know how many languages exist in the world.
Every time someone tries to count them all, another dialect, tribe, culture, or forgotten language seems to emerge.
Human beings have been communicating with one another since the beginning of time, and somehow we have managed to create thousands upon thousands of different ways to say the same things.
Hello.
Goodbye.
I love you.
I am hungry.
Please help me.
Thank you.
What fascinates me is that what sounds like complete gibberish to one person is perfectly clear to another.
That realization alone is worth pausing over.
Before continuing, let me be clear.
I am not making fun of anyone.
If anything, I am laughing at myself and my own ignorance.
Years ago, I watched a Danish movie with subtitles.
I remember thinking:
“What an interesting collection of sounds.”
As I listened, I tried matching the words to the subtitles.
No chance.
I was completely lost.
At one point I thought two people were arguing intensely.
The subtitles informed me they were simply greeting each other.
So much for my interpretation.
I used to spend time in Chinatown and loved listening to conversations around me.
The language moved quickly.
Sharp.
Precise.
Energetic.
If you ever watched two people passionately discussing something in a language you do not understand, you know exactly what I mean.
To them, it makes perfect sense.
To you, it sounds like a mystery unfolding right in front of your eyes.
Then there are Arabic speakers.
The emotion.
The expression.
The movement.
The gestures.
The passion.
Watching a conversation can feel like watching a live performance.
Words, hands, facial expressions, and emotions all working together.
Communication becomes an art form.
The Filipinos have their rhythms.
The Vietnamese theirs.
African dialects can sound rich and powerful.
Japanese communication often carries tremendous respect and subtlety.
Then there are tribes whose communication includes clicking sounds and vocal patterns unfamiliar to most of the world.
For all I know, they may think we sound strange.
And perhaps they would be right.
One lesson became obvious to me over the years:
Words are simply noises that carry meaning.
The meaning is what matters.
As I wrote in Pearls for the Soul:
“The wise person listens beyond the words and hears the heart behind them.”
— Richie Naggar, Pearls for the Soul
Think about how many ways human beings greet one another.
Some shake hands.
Some bow.
Some embrace.
Some place a hand over their heart.
Some kiss cheeks.
Some touch foreheads.
Some exchange blessings.
Some simply smile.
Different actions.
Same message.
“I see you.”
“I acknowledge you.”
“You matter.”
The older I get, the less interested I become in judging differences and the more fascinated I become by understanding them.
The world is filled with people who laugh differently.
Pray differently.
Speak differently.
Dress differently.
Celebrate differently.
Yet beneath all those differences, we seem to want remarkably similar things.
Love.
Family.
Safety.
Purpose.
Friendship.
Meaning.
Hope.
Perhaps that is why travel is so valuable.
It reminds us that the world is much bigger than our neighborhood.
Much bigger than our culture.
Much bigger than our opinions.
What appears strange at first often becomes beautiful once we understand it.
The next time you hear someone speaking a language you do not understand, pause for a moment.
Remember that what sounds like gibberish to you may be poetry to them.
It may be their childhood.
Their history.
Their family.
Their identity.
Their story.
The truth is, every language is proof that human beings have always wanted the same thing:
To be understood.
And perhaps the greatest language of all is not spoken with words at all.
It is spoken through kindness, respect, patience, curiosity, and love.
Those languages are understood everywhere.
— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
https://pearlsforthesoul.com
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