Writing gentleness
Welcome to the crafting gentleness weblog. This may or may not work as a regular blog (my history with such things is pretty dismal), but I'll give it a go. Of all the blogs I have started, I think this one is closest to my heart, and something that I think I can dedicate myself to. We'll see.
I suppose one of the things I am slowly learning about gentleness is that the words I say or write matter so much less than the kind of relationships I foster. It's far more important to me now that I spend quality time in people's company than that I communicate so-called information accurately or successfully. I am reminded of something that Maya Angelou has said (perhaps in her 70th birthday interview with Oprah Winfrey):
"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel".
Words. I think a lot about words, the frustration of words, the frequent pointlessness of words, the power of words to raise us up and crush us down. But I am quite taken by the thought that the more we think words matter, the less words tend to matter. Or rather, the more we are distracted by the presumed importance of words in a particular situation, the less likely we are to be aware of the colour of the relationships in that situation, or of the textures and currents of power. More to the point, the more we get hung up on our words the less aware we may become of how we are treating the people around us. I'm sure there are plenty of times in my life where I have subtly or not so subtly disrespected people I have known or even people I have loved because I was so intent on getting my word out, so intent on speaking 'my truth', so intent on naming my islands and making my mark. Sometimes shutting up isn't all that bad.
Shutting up isn't what this blog is about, though. Still, I hope that this blog ends up being more about heart than head, although I'm sure that the pull of the written word will keep my inclinations towards abstraction pretty close to the surface. Nevertheless, I hope that this blog will allow me to revisit the glory of story, the grain of the heart, and the warm caress of the spring sunshine of possibilities.
I suppose one of the things I am slowly learning about gentleness is that the words I say or write matter so much less than the kind of relationships I foster. It's far more important to me now that I spend quality time in people's company than that I communicate so-called information accurately or successfully. I am reminded of something that Maya Angelou has said (perhaps in her 70th birthday interview with Oprah Winfrey):
"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel".
Words. I think a lot about words, the frustration of words, the frequent pointlessness of words, the power of words to raise us up and crush us down. But I am quite taken by the thought that the more we think words matter, the less words tend to matter. Or rather, the more we are distracted by the presumed importance of words in a particular situation, the less likely we are to be aware of the colour of the relationships in that situation, or of the textures and currents of power. More to the point, the more we get hung up on our words the less aware we may become of how we are treating the people around us. I'm sure there are plenty of times in my life where I have subtly or not so subtly disrespected people I have known or even people I have loved because I was so intent on getting my word out, so intent on speaking 'my truth', so intent on naming my islands and making my mark. Sometimes shutting up isn't all that bad.
Shutting up isn't what this blog is about, though. Still, I hope that this blog ends up being more about heart than head, although I'm sure that the pull of the written word will keep my inclinations towards abstraction pretty close to the surface. Nevertheless, I hope that this blog will allow me to revisit the glory of story, the grain of the heart, and the warm caress of the spring sunshine of possibilities.
posted by Anthony at
8:35 AM
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