Whispers drift above and below the words people utter, hints of meaning that go unnoticed in the rush of daily speech. Weeks ago, a newspaper advertisement caught attention with an unusual offer for a cook, complete with a salary that seemed almost too good to be true. The truth is, a perfect set of conditions for a cook does not exist in a simple marketplace, so the real signal behind the ad must be a quiet exchange of information, a kind of covert communication that passes unseen between sender and recipient. It is not ignored or discounted; it simply remains out of sight, much like the 95 percent of dark matter that scientists say fills the universe, invisible yet present. There is a resonance here that hints at messages circulating just beyond conscious notice.
Meanwhile, the birds in the park keep up their constant chatter, a never-ending dialogue that escapes human notice. The soundscape is full of opinions, observations, subtle tones, and perhaps even secrets shared between feathered neighbors. The question lingers: have they paused to listen the moment someone has asked about them?
-The truth is that? -I would ask.
I have begun calling it the conversation of the birds, a term for the world’s ambient discourse that hums around every passerby. A stranger on the street might cross to the other side to avoid the unsure glances of a person who seems to be listening to more than the surface of things. The two dogs at the curb may be reading the dynamics of their owners, deciphering the invisible scripts that govern daily routine, while those same owners remain largely oblivious to the deep communication happening in the space between their pets and themselves. Perhaps the universe continues to speak about human life in a language that humans forget to translate. In a nearby lake where fishing is allowed on the condition that caught fish are released back, there lies a quiet question: what would the injured fish say to its companions upon returning to the water it once called home?
A friend once shared a farewell to his teenage son, saying a simple goodbye that carried weight: Be good. The listener may question whether such guidance lands in the heart, whether the young one truly hears and absorbs the intent behind the words. Kindness is a tricky trait to cultivate, especially when it comes to courtesy. In life, there are excellent athletes, gifted writers, and skilled cooks, yet it remains a rare alignment to find a person who embodies kindness in those roles. And agreeing that kindness matters can be easy; practicing it, in moments of pressure or pride, proves far more challenging. The reality is that people are not inherently virtuous simply because they try to be prudent with their words. They become good only when they attend closely to the hidden messages in their environment and respond with care to what is unseen by most.