I don't want to say that words necessarily do us wrong. When we need meaning, feeling, or expression it's words that we rely on. Sure, my face is also exceptionally expressive and usually deceives me more than my words because my words are better at having some thought behind them. My face just lays it out there without thinking. As if my face is the extrovert here and my words are only slightly more introverted (because I do say what I think, as well, usually to my detriment in public).
But what are words? You look at this page and see shapes and swirls and lines that somehow have some meaning to you. You see it as complete thoughts - if I'm lucky - and you relate or are angered or complacent or don't understand where in the world I'm coming from. And that's acceptable because that's what we hope words do.
The problem I'm facing lately is in definitions. There are certain things we all agree on. A cat is what it is. It's the clearance cat I wanted to buy a couple weeks ago or any other construction made of fuzz and love and meows and mice-hunting instinct. It's just a cat. A car is a car. A song even is a song, as long as we're talking to those with regular hearing abilities.
The next step up is the regional discrepancies. I drink a soda while my cousins drink pop, old coworkers drink Coke, and someone else is having a soft drink somewhere.
But this isn't the word issue. The issue is a common one among young people, I think. How do we define "relationship"? What makes something "serious"? And why are we all so insistent on accepting that we "like" someone but that we don't want a "relationship"? Isn't a relationship just an ongoing series of spendings of time together? And that has a whole spectrum of being "serious" that depends on the person engaged in the act. Does spending a few hours at a bar a couple of times a week constitute serious if it happens more than twice? Three times? Why do we have to define this?
I've always been one to go with the flow. I have a lot of thoughts, a lot of opinions, but when it comes to spending time with someone, why aren't we just doing exactly what we want without being scared away? Just go, see what happens, get over it.
And then there's the recent issue of calling something "Christmas" that to me this year just seemed like another day. Or "New Years", that moment I have 6 empty PBR cans and two empty mugs trying to get to the dishwasher while people count "10-9-8..." and sweat starts pouring out of my temple. It seems to just be another hour in a day, a moment I am where I am, a time I might wish to be with family more than usual, but really I just miss family all the time and wonder what this Utah place is going to have that I can define as "good" or "serious" or "long-term".
Because those are really just definitions, too, right?
So, while January was confirmed yesterday to be the busiest and worst month logistically in the year for us, I am relieved to have survived the holidays and to continue to figure out what the world means when they use words.
But what are words? You look at this page and see shapes and swirls and lines that somehow have some meaning to you. You see it as complete thoughts - if I'm lucky - and you relate or are angered or complacent or don't understand where in the world I'm coming from. And that's acceptable because that's what we hope words do.
The problem I'm facing lately is in definitions. There are certain things we all agree on. A cat is what it is. It's the clearance cat I wanted to buy a couple weeks ago or any other construction made of fuzz and love and meows and mice-hunting instinct. It's just a cat. A car is a car. A song even is a song, as long as we're talking to those with regular hearing abilities.
The next step up is the regional discrepancies. I drink a soda while my cousins drink pop, old coworkers drink Coke, and someone else is having a soft drink somewhere.
But this isn't the word issue. The issue is a common one among young people, I think. How do we define "relationship"? What makes something "serious"? And why are we all so insistent on accepting that we "like" someone but that we don't want a "relationship"? Isn't a relationship just an ongoing series of spendings of time together? And that has a whole spectrum of being "serious" that depends on the person engaged in the act. Does spending a few hours at a bar a couple of times a week constitute serious if it happens more than twice? Three times? Why do we have to define this?
I've always been one to go with the flow. I have a lot of thoughts, a lot of opinions, but when it comes to spending time with someone, why aren't we just doing exactly what we want without being scared away? Just go, see what happens, get over it.
And then there's the recent issue of calling something "Christmas" that to me this year just seemed like another day. Or "New Years", that moment I have 6 empty PBR cans and two empty mugs trying to get to the dishwasher while people count "10-9-8..." and sweat starts pouring out of my temple. It seems to just be another hour in a day, a moment I am where I am, a time I might wish to be with family more than usual, but really I just miss family all the time and wonder what this Utah place is going to have that I can define as "good" or "serious" or "long-term".
Because those are really just definitions, too, right?
So, while January was confirmed yesterday to be the busiest and worst month logistically in the year for us, I am relieved to have survived the holidays and to continue to figure out what the world means when they use words.
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