Listening to that hits close to home for me. It's how I communicate too. I understand the concepts of not disclosing so much and asking others more questions and letting them do the talking more, but in reality, that won't work either. If both people are doing the same thing, you get a dead ended conversation. Light and fluffy conversations all the time are also horribly dull. Sometimes, it's great, but eventually, I want to know what's really going on in someone's head. I want to get their unique viewpoint.

I often think clear, direct communication really just a different style that's less common. When I'm around others who speak similarly, we have a great time. Instead of feeling drained by the conversation, I'm refreshed and rejuvenated. My last girlfriend did misunderstand me terribly though, despite my telling her my quirks early on in the relationship.

To most folks, maybe words border on meaningless. They interpret actions through a preset/standard bias/filter and that's that. You will get no warning that you're stepping on toes because it's considered rude to clearly tell someone a preference of what you want. ...the old, "if you loved me, you'd know" mindset. That drives me crazy.

I'm unsure what to do about it. My nature compels me to be as authentic as possible. That I prefer X and another prefers B doesn't bother me at all. I want to understand what motivated that person to prefer B. I'm curious, not judging.

It makes no sense to never bring up many topics because they're your preferences, close all conversations first, listen more than speak, etc. if everyone did that, there would hardly be any talking at all.