The Shy Person Who Thought
Each day, I pass by many people. They are all walking somewhere too as I walk to my own destinations. These people are alone and comfortable on their own tracks. I greet one, and in a few instants we become the best of friends. This is possible because there are so few before me who have laid footsteps for me to follow.
Because the rarity of my actions brings value to my actions. I understand this. These people have tireless thoughts to relay. The places they are walking towards. The places they’ve walked to before. The destinations, having changed by time. The numerous roads not taken.
I know my worth. I do not bother; I offer relief. This is how little events create friendships. Intimate friendships of a lifetime.
A shy person imagines many things. This shy person, in any parallel world, may have imagined these same things through the same day. This shy person, in any parallel world, may have seen the same people walk by and bothered only but one of them.
And as it played out, in this alternate world, the world of a daydreamer, new best friends were made.
But, today, a shy person passes by many people and greets not one of them for all are strangers.
In a world of shy people.
October 27, 2009 at 6:38 pm | Reflections | No comments
Backspace
Internet chatting is not the same as face to face conversation.
This is a truth which all newbies, to either world(though help come to those for whom internet chatting is the first), learn quickly.
Backspace is a convenient key.
Those who strive to guard themselves from regret learn quickly that passiveness is its truest precedent.
I had typed more words in this article, but I backspaced them out.
Now, empty, I ponder and wonder.
If those lost words were truly worth the extra keystrokes.
September 7, 2009 at 8:12 pm | Reflections | No comments
Meaningful
If I Told You So…
If I said that in this world, the birds are sometimes blue, would you try to find meaning in what I said? Would you assume that it was a metaphor of some sort?
The manner of the statement makes little difference, but it is a random statement that might possibly sound like it could be a metaphor of some sort. There was no meaning intended, but a person who read the statement might try to decipher it.
But, that doesn’t necessarily mean the statement is meaningless, just that the author did not intend for the statement to have any particular meaning. The reader has the power to create meaning for the statement, and this power is amplified by the obscurity of the statement.
Intentions
In writing, it is commonly advised to know of your audience and purpose beforehand. This is essentially true in any situation involving communication to the masses. When a person gives a speech, a degree of clarity is expected. We hear speeches that arouse emotions, promote ideas, or inform of the world’s happenings. We do not, however, often hear of a person rising to the podium to say “In this world, the birds are sometimes blue” unless the speaker beforehand had alluded of a metaphor relating to either birds or the color blue.
When a person writes, he or she becomes an author. He or she is in a state in which he or she must discern among words and choose combination of words to become statements. A person can write like an artisan who may choose a more poetic, freeflowing cache of words, or a person could write like a mathematician who coherently leads each conclusion into the next. It’s all a matter of choosing a style that suits the purpose.
An author is a communicator, and an author who is not might just be a rambler. As a communicator, the author’s purpose is to guide the reader into the purpose of the writing. By being clear, the author maintains control over the communication; the reader becomes restricted in his or her ability to mentally manipulate the meanings of the words. The author’s meaning is clear, so the minds of those who read follow along each point. Even in poetry, the meaning is channeled into coherence so that a poem may become more than just simply flowing words.
Thus we discover Writing 101. Clarity means points that embed themselves into the minds of the readers you sway. Clarity means turning the science into less than a superficial magic of the world. Clarity is efficient, and clarity is for a practical world.
November 9, 2008 at 9:26 pm | Reflections | No comments