COMMUNICATION is the basis of all development. If we could not communicate with each other, we would live and die as isolated islands. The knowledge that we may gain through the experience of our own lives would perish along with us. Great persons who have changed our world for the better would cease to be remembered. Some of the most significant moments in history would lose their meaning, as their importance could not be conveyed to others. Every skill and ability would have to be learned from one’s own ingenuity and not from the prior knowledge of others. Yet, the most dreadful part of it all is the fact that we can never tell each other what we are feeling. We could never smile at each other and share the warmth of joy. We could never shed tears as we help another person shoulder the burden of grief. We could not even wave goodbye to mark the end of a true friendship.

Nevertheless, as we go about our lives, we rarely realise how valuable it is to be able to communicate with each other in any way that we please. We do not realise how much of our lives are tethered around effective communication. It is so important, in fact, that something as seemingly minuscule as a difference in age can lead to disputes as different generations of people attempt to communicate in different ways. For instance, most younger generations are often accused of being poor communicators – of being secretive, cold, or curt in the way they interact with others. In turn, older generations are accused of being excessively formal in their communication – focusing more on the manner in which information is conveyed rather than the content of each message. These differences have likely been responsible for numerous breakdowns in communication within homes, schools and even workplaces!

It is safe to say, then, that communication itself is an important skill which takes practice and patience to learn. Regardless of our age, communicating properly is a seemingly mundane activity that can have a significant impact on our lives. While it may seem like the generation gap, language barriers, or other misunderstandings are insurmountable obstacles to effective communication, it is more likely that our own emotions are the more formidable barriers preventing us from connecting. The truth is that communication is more than just transferring information. It is the ability to connect with another person. Good communicators remain tethered to other individuals even after a conversation has ended. They are able to form lasting bonds by communicating their feelings along with the information they are transferring.

Perhaps one of the most intriguing perspectives ever offered on communication comes from the mystery of the Voynich Manuscript. The Voynich Manuscript is a book discovered near Rome, containing about 240 pages of indecipherable text and pictures. The book was written in a mysterious language, termed “Voynichese”, and it contains hand-drawn pictures of curious plants, stars, creatures, and constellations that do not exist in reality. Although professionals have worked on deciphering the book for decades, none has been able to come up with a conclusive answer on what exactly the book contains. The manuscript’s strange allure has drawn in more and more people, who attempt to decipher it only to come away disappointed.

The Voynich Manuscript is a book that seems to have connected people not through the words that it contains but rather through the promise of mystery that it holds. Although we may never decipher what those elusive pages contain, the book has already taught us much about our qualities as a collective race. It has shown us that our greatest treasures are not in the resources that we procure, or the wealth that we save. It is instead in the things we choose to say and the knowledge we choose to share.

Our world grows when we step forward to say what needs to be said in the right way. We connect when we choose to share our thoughts, even when others seem to hesitate. The Voynich Manuscript shows us that it is not just words that unite us, but the feeling of power that comes from knowledge. Words left unsaid and thoughts left unspoken are like maps which have only been partially drawn.