November 18th, 2008

Here's something you could share with friends and family if you wanted.

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Holy wailing wombats, have I ever been busy lately! What with babies at home and software releases at work ... and up until recently my wife's parents had been staying with us. But now, as things unravel a little, I find myself with a bit of time again. Whew! Whoa! Wowee!

And what is the first thing I usually do when I have a few moments? Why, I write something, of course! It turns out that I am now so attached to typing my thoughts that if I don't get the opportunity I go a little squirrelly. Yes, that is the right word. Slang for sexual tension ... because the written word is so powerful to me it can be my sorrow, my joy, my stimulus, my depression, and everything in between.

I sometimes go to a website that gives me a single word and one minute to write (http://www.oneword.com). Today the word it gave me was, "suspend", and here is what I wrote:

SUSPEND: More mechanized lifestyle, nothing grounded, house of cards. I live my life suspended far enough above the ground that a fall from these lofty heights would spell a painful end. But how does one cut the wires without bringing the whole bird's nest down in a heap? How to cut the strings and wires that suspend me in an artificial lifestyle so that I could gently descend to the ground again?

See how my stream-of-consciousness reflects my mindset that I described at the start?

My sister is a jazz musician and though jazz is not exactly my favourite (or even 2nd- or 3rd- favourite—sorry, Jen) I sometimes go and listen to her shows. One thing that amazes me and makes my untrained musical abilities a little bit jealous is how the truly accomplished musician can plumb the depths of his/her mind and just put into the notes what thoughts and feelings are there. Basically, in music they say, "I feel this way."

Well, words are like that to me. There's a catharsis to writing that transcends the words themselves. There is an impression, a meta-message, an overall shape to the small fleeting images of the sentences and paragraphs. Speaking in those shapes is nourishment for me. And not having that voice is like starving in misery.

It's nice to finally sit and type something :-)

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