The Problem with ZOOM by Elena Talamante

The problem with zoom is that I have to mean what I say. 

I have to talk about my thoughts and feelings like I know what they are. 

I'm struggling right now to explain to you all that I don't know

but you would know it if you were here. 

You would see my hands clench

my teeth clench

my heart clench. 

You would know my smile even if my face did not move. 

On zoom I have to smile BIGGER, nod BIGGER, be BIGGER.

I am astounded by Woolf's ability to show us exactly how people are communicating without words, even as she shares the words they say. The young couple in Kew Gardens has a connection that is expressed through their hands on a parasol, digging in the dirt. They talk about tea but the clumsy words are not connected to their feelings. Communication is so much more than talking, but in our technological world we act like we are all still connected. We can talk. We can see each others' faces. But we cannot communicate. The silence that the Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay both decide on in chapter eleven of To the Lighthouse is only possible because of their physical proximity, their understanding of nonverbal closeness. We have all fooled ourselves into believing that words are enough for our classes. That most of what we do in class in talk. But we are missing so much communication. And the more I try, the more I'm left floundering for words, trying to use the only method we have left. And unlike Woolf, I cannot give you a picture of what I'm really doing. 

I don't mean what I say, but it's the closest I can get to what I mean.

Comments

  1. Krishnan VenkateshFebruary 28, 2021 at 8:27 PM

    Very eloquent, Ms. Talamante. It's worth picking out a passage just to see just how much communication, or even language itself, is more than words. I've often thought that one of our weaknesses is how we read plays here, since the "text" is only about 20% of the play; the rest we have to supply in our imaginations or with our bodies. Same with music. On the other hand, think of ways of communicating even narrower than Zoom -- letters, or prisoners tapping out code on cell walls -- where even these paltry signals can seem so full.

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