Quiet Teddy Bears

"Listen to the quiet ones,
For though they don't use words,
They often have an inner voice that's longing to be heard.
Listen to the quiet ones,
For at line end of the day,
It's very often the quiet ones who have the most to say."

Researchers estimate that up to 70% of human communication occurs without speech. The twist of a lip, the slouch of a shoulder, the widening of an eye... these gestures convey our true thoughts and emotions without so much as a syllable. When you ask your pre-teen son what they did at school, the response is always the same. "Nothing," said the dullest monotone, but because if you pay attention you can read the nonverbal cues. That "nothing" says that maybe he should have studied a bit harder for that math test or the girl he's had a crush on finally spoke to him, and much more. The same is true with teddy bears — they speak without a sound.

Teddy Bears can speak to us. The bears tell us who they are and what they need in order to be able to speak to others. Bears "speak" while they are still just an outline on a piece of fabric, or as their little paws are stitched. Sometimes they wait to speak until they are finished, but they will always speak at some point during their lifetime. You just have to listen for that quiet little voice.

They do speak, don't they? They have a language all their own that comes from their teddy souls, expressed through little glass eyes and quiet stitched mouths.

When you had your first bear as a child, surely he said something to you that made you love him. As you grew, he said even more. You learned a new mode of communication. If you had teddy bears as a child, you probably spoke back to them as you played. Most grown-ups don't actually talk back to their bears, but my guess is that teddies understand their owners' nonverbal cues, too. They know how much you cherish them, and how absolutely taken you are when you look into those glass eyes and hear that quiet voice reassure us that everything will be okay, that tomorrow is a new day, and that you are loved.