This or that? (depends) 3



Were you making an observation or lodging a complaint?


Are you noticing or criticizing?


Am I informing or bragging?


Am I sharing or lauding?

Does silence speak volumes or are the meanings so much background noise?

Where did the music go? 

Does the music go down when life gets too loud?

It’s one thing or another.  Either/or, neither/nor, or both/and!


It depends… on our history.
It depends….on the state of our relationship.
It depends…on my mood at the moment.
It depends…on the condition our condition is in.



This or that. This or that.

The words might be the same but the way they’re delivered will change the response.

This or that, tit for tat, good or bad…it all depends.


(I’ll try to remember my inclination to sort for the good.)


About Candelaria Silva

Candelaria Silva-Collins is a marketing, community outreach and programming consultant; writer; and trainer/facilitator who lives in Boston, Massachusetts. She has designed and facilitated workshops on a wide variety of topics including communication, facilitation, job search skills, team building, and parenting issues. She currently coordinates the Community Membership Program of the Huntington Theatre Company. Her work as Director of ACT Roxbury was profiled in several publications, including The Creative Communities Builders Handbook. Candelaria’s children’s stories, short stories, essays and reviews have been published in local and national publications and she is an active blogger. Her publications include the booklets, Handling Rejection; Pushing through Shyness: Networking Tips when You’re Shy, Slow to Warm Up or Just don’t Feel you Belong; and Real Questions about Sex & Relationships for Teens: A Discussion Guide for Parents. She has served on the boards of Goddard College, Wheelock Family Theatre, Boston Foundation for Architecture, and Discover Roxbury. She is currently Chair, Designators of the Henderson Foundation.

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3 thoughts on “This or that? (depends)

  • miruspeg

    Oh I really like this post Candelaria!
    It speaks volumes to me.
    I feel half the time we have no idea until after the event which meaning we were trying to convey.
    Sometimes it depends on whether we were being fake or real.
    Hugs
    Peggy xxxxx