Alienation, separating “us” from “them,” creating “others,” this is the beginning of despair, and nothing achieves this as effectively as the inability to communicate. When we are unable to understand each other’s intentions, fear creeps in. We become suspicious, projecting our insecurities, and then acting on the phantoms we’ve created in our own minds. We build walls to keep out the menace of our own dark thoughts, and we confuse those thoughts with the world outside of us. All the while, it is just as possible, perhaps even probable, that out there, beyond the language barrier, there are wonders and treasures, people of extraordinary beauty and wisdom, alienated by the inability or unwillingness to build a bridge of communication. We are all cosmonauts in the deep space of human relationships. Take heart, be courageous, travel to where you are the alien, and build a little bridge to the unknown!