What Would It Be Like...

If everyone sent all their unsent letters?

Again, written long ago, discovered today, posted unedited.

I'm beginning to think conversation is like the flow of blood throughout the body. Like blood flows through vessels to various parts of the body in different quantities and capacities, conversation flows through some sort of passageways to various people in different forms. You don't talk to your best friend the same way you'd talk to a prospective employer in an interview.
As time goes by without proper nutrition, vessels get increasingly clogged. Sometimes, the passageway gets completely blocked off. A part of the body starves and dies; conversation ceases and a human relationship ends.
Depending on where the clog is, collateral damage can occur. Just as if all blood flow ceases to the left arm and hands and fingers die as well, sometimes if conversation ceases and a human relationship ends, connections made through that relationship often deteriorate and die as well. The extent of the collateral damage depends entirely on where the clog occurs. If the aorta is clogged just after the connection to the heart, the entire animal will be starved of blood and die. This is a low risk, because so much blood flows through a buildup will have to be very resilient to clog the artery.
Sometimes, blockages can be repaired with angioplasty. A small balloon is inserted deflated into the vessel, then inflated to allow blood to pass between the clog and the expanded vessel. The risk in this is that the vessel is frail and ruptures when the balloon is inflated. Another method to repair the blockage is a bypass. A piece of blood vessel is harvested from elsewhere in the body and used to create a flow around the blockage.
But what makes clogs in the flow of conversation? I'm thinking it's unresolved issues and withheld statements. When you consider saying something, but opt not to for whatever reason, it creates a small buildup in the pathway. The more important the reason for withholding the statement, the greater the buildup. As more conversation tries to flow past this buildup, some gets caught up on this blockage due to similarity. If you refrain from asking someone about past relationships, you likewise would refrain from asking them details or occurrences pertinent to those relationships. As more and more statements are withheld, the blockage becomes more and more critical.
The tragedy lies when a blockage is the size where some blood still flows through, but at a highly impaired rate. Enough comes through to sustain life, but nearly all functionality is impaired. A person cannot walk but is mocked by the ability to wiggle a toe; a person stays alive in a coma as enough blood flows to the brain stem to regulate life but not enough to the cortex to facilitate consciousness. Superficial statements flow through the buildup, but not enough for a meaningful, fulfilling conversation.
The great problem with this is nothing is done about the blockage. Tissue does not die, so one would see little reason to take action. If the passageway is completely blocked, it is imperative to make a quick decision: operate, or just let tissue die. Maybe a fingertip is not worth operating on to save. It's not worth the trouble. It's easier to just let it die and go on with life with a few alterations.
Say it is deemed pertinent to operate-- flow an entire arm is compromised. The operation is extremely difficult and not guaranteed. Despite everyone's best efforts, the arm may still die. But, some would argue, at least they tried.