GREY AREA

VERBAL COMMUNICATION HAS ALWAYS BEEN AN ENIGMA TO ME. IT FEELS LIKE A TOOL I CAN GRASP BUT NEVER FULLY MASTER, A MEDIUM THAT FAILS TO CONVEY THE DEPTH OF WHAT I WISH TO EXPRESS. I AM IN AWE OF THOSE WHO CAN ARTICULATE THEMSELVES FLUENTLY, WHO CAN ADVOCATE FOR THEIR IDEAS—GOOD OR BAD—WITH COMPELLING PRECISION. I RECOGNISE THE IMMENSE VALUE OF THIS SKILL, HOW IT INFLUENCES HUMAN INTERACTION AND SHAPES OUTCOMES ACROSS DOMAINS.

FOR ME, HOWEVER, COMMUNICATING IS FAR FROM LINEAR. MY THOUGHTS EMERGE AS IMAGES OR, MORE ACCURATELY, AS SPIDER DIAGRAMS—IDEAS BRANCHING OUT IN MULTIPLE DIRECTIONS, INTERCONNECTED BUT SPRAWLING. THIS NON-LINEAR PROCESS MAKES VERBAL COMMUNICATION A CHALLENGE. WHERE DO I BEGIN? WHICH BRANCH DO I FOLLOW? HOW DO I CONNECT THEM WITHOUT LOSING THE THREAD? AND ABOVE ALL, HOW DO I KEEP IT SUCCINCT?

TO AVOID OVERWHELMING MYSELF OR OTHERS, I OFTEN LIMIT MYSELF TO A SINGLE BRANCH, REDUCING THE RESOLUTION OF THE IMAGE I INTEND TO SHARE. WHAT REMAINS IS A FRACTION OF THE WHOLE, A COMPROMISE THAT FAILS TO CAPTURE THE COMPLEXITY OF MY THOUGHTS. THIS IS WHY I AM DRAWN TO DISCURSIVE CONVERSATIONS—THEY ALLOW ME TO WANDER, TO EXPLORE IDEAS IN A LESS RIGID AND MORE ORGANIC MANNER, MUCH LIKE THE DIAGRAMS IN MY MIND.

PERHAPS THIS STRUGGLE EXPLAINS WHY I HAVE ENVISIONED CODE-SWITCH AS A VISUAL COMMUNICATION DOMAIN. VISUAL LANGUAGE OFFERS A FAMILIAR TERRAIN FOR ME, A MEDIUM THAT FEELS BETTER SUITED TO THE WAY I THINK AND CREATE. IT ALLOWS ME TO BUILD CONNECTIONS, TO EXPLORE COMPLEXITY WITHOUT BEING CONFINED TO THE LINEARITY OF SPOKEN WORDS. IN THIS SPACE, I HOPE TO TRANSLATE THE DIAGRAMS IN MY MIND INTO SOMETHING THAT OTHERS CAN SEE AND UNDERSTAND.

CODE-SWITCH IS NOT JUST A PROJECT BUT A RESPONSE TO THIS STRUGGLE—A WAY TO NAVIGATE THE CHALLENGE OF COMMUNICATION BY LEVERAGING THE UNIVERSALITY OF VISUALS. IN THIS DOMAIN, I SEEK TO CREATE A NEW LANGUAGE, ONE THAT BRIDGES THE GAP BETWEEN HOW I THINK AND HOW I SHARE, OFFERING A FRAMEWORK THAT SPEAKS TO THE MIND AND THE EYE SIMULTANEOUSLY.