Extremities~ putting life & words in proper context
Jacquelyn Hughes Mooney©09
I was reading an article this morning about someone who had several exceptional things that had occurred in their lives. And as I usually do I read responses & reactions from others commenting on her story along with the telling of theirs. But then I notice something, something that had been in the back of my head for a fewer months and that was the use of some words that people use to color or describe their experiences. The problem I think I was having was the gross exaggeration in the words that while descriptive took the incident they were describing to a whole different level then it warranted.
As a person who love words and have been known to bend a phrase or two, what has concerned me that it has become so commonplace in the vernacular that you, I and the writer may make a situation so melodramatic that it becomes far more powerful then warranted. Perhaps this is a reaction to a general, indifference by the population at large that as people feel they have to scream louder to be heard, but as a comment I read once said:” if you want people to pay attention speak quietly, lowering your voice rather then raising it”. If the audio graffiti is so loud people may have unconsciously with a great deal of success, found a way to tune it (and you) out. But they will be forced to stop, be quiet if your voice is lower.
The noise is as if Captain Jean Luc Picard (of Star Trek-Next Generation) yelled “Red Alert”! the minute & every time someone hiccup. I say this somewhat tongue in cheek because this “squeaky wheel gets oiled” concept has spiraled out of control & truly there are somethings, perhaps many things that do not need that level of intensity and when all of it is given that level people stop paying attention in reaction to your needing some attention.
Everything has gotten louder and louder & even in a time where people are touting simplifying, leaving a lighter footprint in the earth, repurposing, and people are screaming to be heard and very few are listening let alone hearing which separate things are.
Something’s simply in the scheme of things really or hiccups and burps in living. And you will have many of them if you live long enough. Keeping a high “red alert” status will wear you out long before age will kill you.
From unreal reality shows, to extreme sports to designer drugs meant to excite to movies that have to stretch beyond all that is normal to titillate its audience, we are hurtling to something that we may not want to go there especially if we do not know how to get back.
Make no mistake I am a person who loves vibrancy, tons of energy, laughter and movement. No question about it. What I am talking about is more of a manic, adrenaline, psychedelic driven madness so one can feel alive. Having a peace co-existence has often been portrayed in such a way to make one flee in the opposite direction as boring, plain, passive, non-pleasurable, dull existence. And I know people who are like that and it is anything but peaceful, it is near brain death with an extra dollop of smugness thrown in for measure.
Somewhere between extremes is a large realm of happy middle ground. You world will not fall apart because you did not lose that 10 pounds b4 your high school reunion occurring in 3 days which was not realistic from the get-go. Nor are you a lesser human being because you have 50, 70 or 100 pounds to release, because you do not have all the tools as you think you should have to do whatever it is you feel you need to do or you are “losing” you identity in this exceptional time. No matter what those audio graffiti “artist” want to tell you or for that matter you tell yourself over and over. Hang the noise... Turn it off. “No one can rob you of self esteem. That is why it is called self-esteem” as the “Self Esteem Doctor”, coach Jewel Diamond Taylor states.
I am not much different then the rest of the world in being a work in progress, learning, discovering, rejoicing cheering and being cheered in my life. Some days are better then others. Some days are most excellent and then there are the ones that plain old stinks. I can indeed subscribe to the quote: "A rising tide lifts all boats” Senator Maxine Waters If just depends on what you want to be in and if you get in the wrong one, get out and climb aboard a'nother. And wait for the tide to rise which gravity also affects. The tide will inevitably come!
Jacquelyn Hughes Mooney©09
I was reading an article this morning about someone who had several exceptional things that had occurred in their lives. And as I usually do I read responses & reactions from others commenting on her story along with the telling of theirs. But then I notice something, something that had been in the back of my head for a fewer months and that was the use of some words that people use to color or describe their experiences. The problem I think I was having was the gross exaggeration in the words that while descriptive took the incident they were describing to a whole different level then it warranted.
As a person who love words and have been known to bend a phrase or two, what has concerned me that it has become so commonplace in the vernacular that you, I and the writer may make a situation so melodramatic that it becomes far more powerful then warranted. Perhaps this is a reaction to a general, indifference by the population at large that as people feel they have to scream louder to be heard, but as a comment I read once said:” if you want people to pay attention speak quietly, lowering your voice rather then raising it”. If the audio graffiti is so loud people may have unconsciously with a great deal of success, found a way to tune it (and you) out. But they will be forced to stop, be quiet if your voice is lower.
The noise is as if Captain Jean Luc Picard (of Star Trek-Next Generation) yelled “Red Alert”! the minute & every time someone hiccup. I say this somewhat tongue in cheek because this “squeaky wheel gets oiled” concept has spiraled out of control & truly there are somethings, perhaps many things that do not need that level of intensity and when all of it is given that level people stop paying attention in reaction to your needing some attention.
Everything has gotten louder and louder & even in a time where people are touting simplifying, leaving a lighter footprint in the earth, repurposing, and people are screaming to be heard and very few are listening let alone hearing which separate things are.
Something’s simply in the scheme of things really or hiccups and burps in living. And you will have many of them if you live long enough. Keeping a high “red alert” status will wear you out long before age will kill you.
From unreal reality shows, to extreme sports to designer drugs meant to excite to movies that have to stretch beyond all that is normal to titillate its audience, we are hurtling to something that we may not want to go there especially if we do not know how to get back.
Make no mistake I am a person who loves vibrancy, tons of energy, laughter and movement. No question about it. What I am talking about is more of a manic, adrenaline, psychedelic driven madness so one can feel alive. Having a peace co-existence has often been portrayed in such a way to make one flee in the opposite direction as boring, plain, passive, non-pleasurable, dull existence. And I know people who are like that and it is anything but peaceful, it is near brain death with an extra dollop of smugness thrown in for measure.
Somewhere between extremes is a large realm of happy middle ground. You world will not fall apart because you did not lose that 10 pounds b4 your high school reunion occurring in 3 days which was not realistic from the get-go. Nor are you a lesser human being because you have 50, 70 or 100 pounds to release, because you do not have all the tools as you think you should have to do whatever it is you feel you need to do or you are “losing” you identity in this exceptional time. No matter what those audio graffiti “artist” want to tell you or for that matter you tell yourself over and over. Hang the noise... Turn it off. “No one can rob you of self esteem. That is why it is called self-esteem” as the “Self Esteem Doctor”, coach Jewel Diamond Taylor states.
I am not much different then the rest of the world in being a work in progress, learning, discovering, rejoicing cheering and being cheered in my life. Some days are better then others. Some days are most excellent and then there are the ones that plain old stinks. I can indeed subscribe to the quote: "A rising tide lifts all boats” Senator Maxine Waters If just depends on what you want to be in and if you get in the wrong one, get out and climb aboard a'nother. And wait for the tide to rise which gravity also affects. The tide will inevitably come!
Today I am living. Tomorrow I will do some more all the while, making plans, putting the figurative house not in order, but rearranging it/transforming it into something fresh & refreshing, angling for an uncommon, distinct route to command luminosity like no other time in my life. So no matter what all the noise in extremity screams, bangs, shout and cajole that bangs about as an unwanted distraction, I am in my right mind about where I am, loving every minute of it & actively seeking all the things that have been dancing around my heart’s dreams the last 3 years.
Some days more then others, but ah, I’m human.
And how cool is that?
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