Hey, thanks R. In my case, it's not only a (probable) gender tendency, but a cultural one as well. I'm Native American and we are hella FAMOUS for talking in circles! Have you ever heard a native elder talk? Oh...man! They can talk *around* and issue for hours...and never get to the point...cuz we are supposed to INFER what they mean without them having to come right out to the bottom line. Getting up and walking away from an elder doing that is considered RUDE, DISRESPECTFUL, AND IGNORANT!
In addition, Wolfie is sooooooo touchy! I feel like I can't get down to bare bones until I have give him FULL context (so he won't misunderstand me) and tons of validation (so he's less likely to get defensive)! I practically have to surround the "point" with big fluffy feather pillows so I can minimize the backlash! GEEEEZ!
It's hard enough when I am trying to communicate very tender and vulnerable--but also having to be afraid that the result will be major emotional bullying to get me to shut up and shut down.
I guess next time, I could go straight to what I want to say with no feather pillows to see if that makes any difference.
