The language of pain

Someone commented on the fact that I am 'very intuitive' the other day... It was in response to my knowing that they were in some kind of pain...

And I got to thinking...

Intuitive? Perhaps... but really? I think it is about understanding the language of pain.

Which is what?

The complexity of this 'language' is only realised when you begin to look at how many different ways the language of pain can be spoken...

Ok.. so it is spoken through crying and shouting and all the obvious forms, but it is also spoken through anger or bittereness or cynicism and, confusingly, often through humour.

Often it is spoken secretly, too softly for ears... it is spoken through glances and longings and thinking out louds...

It is spoken drunkenly, sometimes violently and sometimes through an obsession with a distraction.

The language of pain that many people use, is often completely silent.

Another thing I realised about the language of pain is that just because a person may have the ability to speak, it does not necessarily follow that they are able to UNDERSTAND it when they hear it in others...

The language of pain is understood through empathy but first you have to be tuned to it, especially when it is spoken through silence.
This is what my friend called intuition. But it's not.
It is just a different kind of listening. A listening that is less 'outside' and more 'inside'. Listening to what is not audible... but nonetheless, can stil be heard.