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Friday June 28, 2019

Cut and polish.

Writers’ self-talking.

Like gem cutters, wanting to reveal a clear and sparkling end result, each facet left unambiguously precise, waste and clutter removed – honed, polished so it can be seen from many angles without leaving readers confused. What they see is what the writer intended them to experience …

Viewers of a precious stone, or any work of art, are no different than readers of any given piece of writing: they feel their own feelings, think their own thoughts and those are often quite unlike the writer’s expectations or intentions. Art appreciation is similar, in that everyone who sees a painting has their own unique reaction to it which cannot be duplicated any more than it can be predicted.

Meeting people is exactly like this. You can predict and anticipate, but never be right about what someone else is thinking, how they feel or how they will react. This is not just a grown-ups issue. For great examples, just look at any child. Easy to see. Now look at your own child. It becomes more obvious and sometimes painful. Joyous too, but uncomfortable bits are harder to get past. What they don’t tell you when you are young, is that the parent needs to learn the child AND the child needs to learn the parent, see the parent, and you can’t predict what they will see or feel. Not ever …

How many more apparently insurmountable challenges do we need to round out our lives?

Some say, “I’m done”.

Some say, “a few, but could you make them easy?”

Some say, “bring it on – I’m just getting started …”


 
 
 
     
 
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