Girl: You're back! How was Jonno?
Guy: Yeah, good. It was pretty good.
Girl: More information please.
Guy: Ummm... we fished a bit. Went to the pub. I had the seafood basket, it was ok. Stuff like that.
Girl: Did you say hi to him for me? And to Julia?
Guy: Yeah... yeah I did.
Girl: And?
Guy: Ummm... and?
Girl: Did he say hi back?
Guy: Yeah. He looked at the horizon for about 20 seconds after I told him hi from you. A single tear rolled down his cheek, and without looking back from the horizon, he said, all huskily, "tell her I say hi back".
Girl: Really?
Guy: No.
Stone cold Circumstances
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
It's only words, and words are all I have...
People who use the term "amazing" are people worth emulating. Some people can have amazing coffee in the morning. Their mornings consist of great surprise or sudden wonder. These are strong feelings. Most people's mornings consist of mild irritation and slightly sticky spit. At worst, amazed people are caused great wonder and astonishment at the breakfast table, although a few years ago they could also have been bewildered or perplexed, so thank Goodness they don't live in those times any more. These people can go to live music venues with tickets they bought some months ago to see a band they already know and still walk away with a sense of inspiration, awe and wonder. Truly these people know the stuff that living, real living, is made of.
At the same time I pity people who find things awesome. To be struck dumb with reverence, admiration and fear merely by the experience of watching a film must make life hard. To find someone's car grand, sublime, or extremely powerful must make it difficult to get through the day. If only they could find a way to be amazed instead of awestruck by everyday occurrences they would be happier. But perhaps we can learn something from the humility of these people. Perhaps they see the pure beauty of the simplest parts of the universe and recognise their own place in it. But what an awful burden to bear, when the rest of us can happily kid ourselves that we are important and that a movie might be entertaining, or a car merely a method of transportation.
After understanding that people who regularly use the term "awesome" are really people with a sixth sense about their surroundings, it is easy to spot a sub-category of these enlightened individuals in which the realisation of one's place in the cosmos has mutated into a debilitating sense of insignificance. You can easily identify and reach out to these people by paying particular attention to those who use the term "just". When someone says to you "I'm just a delivery driver" you must instantly start listing the other things they are to them, to widen their perspective on their own lives. Tell them they are not "just" a delivery driver, merely a transporter of goods, only a minion to the exclusion of all other descriptors or identifying labels. Tell them they are also sons, daughters, brothers, footballers, phone-call makers... anything. Together we really can help these people.
But not all people who use "just" are humble. Others, more egocentric and cruel, will apply this explosive term to others. The next time you hear someone say "she's just a bitch", walk away, but not before you remind them that she is also any number of other things (start with human, then get more specific). Don't let these people infect you with their arrogance. Remember, people who see others one-dimensionally are often those capable of the most extreme acts. You can be sure that the senior citizen in his car thought that the Delezio family were "just pedestrians".
Language is a powerful way of forming a world view. By carefully selecting our adverbs and our adjectives we can change the way we, and hopefully others less linguistically vigilant than ourselves, view and interact with the world and the people we live on and with.
Thank you
At the same time I pity people who find things awesome. To be struck dumb with reverence, admiration and fear merely by the experience of watching a film must make life hard. To find someone's car grand, sublime, or extremely powerful must make it difficult to get through the day. If only they could find a way to be amazed instead of awestruck by everyday occurrences they would be happier. But perhaps we can learn something from the humility of these people. Perhaps they see the pure beauty of the simplest parts of the universe and recognise their own place in it. But what an awful burden to bear, when the rest of us can happily kid ourselves that we are important and that a movie might be entertaining, or a car merely a method of transportation.
After understanding that people who regularly use the term "awesome" are really people with a sixth sense about their surroundings, it is easy to spot a sub-category of these enlightened individuals in which the realisation of one's place in the cosmos has mutated into a debilitating sense of insignificance. You can easily identify and reach out to these people by paying particular attention to those who use the term "just". When someone says to you "I'm just a delivery driver" you must instantly start listing the other things they are to them, to widen their perspective on their own lives. Tell them they are not "just" a delivery driver, merely a transporter of goods, only a minion to the exclusion of all other descriptors or identifying labels. Tell them they are also sons, daughters, brothers, footballers, phone-call makers... anything. Together we really can help these people.
But not all people who use "just" are humble. Others, more egocentric and cruel, will apply this explosive term to others. The next time you hear someone say "she's just a bitch", walk away, but not before you remind them that she is also any number of other things (start with human, then get more specific). Don't let these people infect you with their arrogance. Remember, people who see others one-dimensionally are often those capable of the most extreme acts. You can be sure that the senior citizen in his car thought that the Delezio family were "just pedestrians".
Language is a powerful way of forming a world view. By carefully selecting our adverbs and our adjectives we can change the way we, and hopefully others less linguistically vigilant than ourselves, view and interact with the world and the people we live on and with.
Thank you
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