I Love to Write and I Don't Know Why, and it doesn't really matter, or does it? There's something fulfilling about pouring those scrambled words in your head out onto the computer screen into something (hopefully) coherent that someone might actually want to read.
Like anything else it was hard at first. But because of my situation as a boy, it became my primary means of expression and an imaginary way out of the confines of the neighborhood that I grew up in.
Hard times make strong men, or so the saying goes, and it was the same with me being the "odd one" who read books all the time while being surrounded by people who were prisoners of their own minds.
I also love learning new things, many of which I may never get to put into practice, but you just never know do you? There have been times when that obscure little factoid ended up saving the day and everyone would say "only he would have known something like that" so there's that.
One thing that always stood out to me was when people would use "your" when they should have used "you're" in text. Yeah, they sound the same, but aren't used the same when writing text.
It's the same thing when I repeatedly see mostly people from Africa use "contents" instead of "content" here on Hive. "I write good contents" is not only incorrect, but doesn't make any sense at all. What really gets me is they continually repeat this mistake even when it's pointed out to them over and over again. Seems to be a roadblock for some that they'll never surpass I guess.
However, I'm sure if I had to write posts in say the Yoruba language, I'd be making similar mistakes, right? Trust me, I'd butcher the hell out of that, and they'd laugh me out of the place. :) Plus, I learned in grade school just how difficult English is to learn for non-native speakers. Our teacher told us that English is a bastardized language, borrowing scraps from many tongues and mixing them together in a hot mess.
You also have the difference between US and UK English. For instance, I'll never forget how shocked I was when we learned that they have anothert name for eggplant. I was like; "wait a minute, you call it WHAT?" lol!
And lest you think I'm picking on foreigners, my fellow Americans have trouble knowing when to use "your" versus "you're" I see it all the time. Some examples:
"Your funny" = incorrect
"You're funny" = correct
"You're dog is hairy" = incorrect
"Your dog is hairy" = correct
See the difference?
Words can also have power in a conversation by what's said, and not said. The pregnant pause when used in the right place, can act to accentuate a point at times much better then simply running off at the mouth.
The speed and cadence of a speech can effectually calm a crowd or incite a crowd to action. Body language also plays a part as I saw when I read an article about how Hitler prepared for his speeches to the German people.
He didn't just get up there and wing it, but spent hours in preparation which gave each sentence an emotional punch it wouldn't have had otherwise.
When I would watch Steve Jobs speak, I thought he was a verbal Superman, until I learned about how many dozens and dozens of times he rehearsed each "Stevenote." Turns out the man was human after all, but was smart enough to repeat his presentation over and over tweaking along the way until it became almost second nature for him.
I also like to keep facts "in the bank" ready for use whenever I need them. I learned this as a boy when I would go to the park and listen to the adults talk. One day I worked up the courage to ask one how he managed to have an answer for seemingly everything he talks about. That's when he told me about "banking" not only facts, but even portions of conversations that you could call up without even thinking about it.
So I'd go home and write up potential greetings and little factoids, and over time those words took up residence in my head. Now do that for years and eventually you no longer need to write them down. Just picture your brain as a gigantic palace with millions of rooms each filled with a word, factoid, or sentence fragment. Need one in a text or conversation? Open one of those doors and pull that sucker out, then put it back when you're done. No Chat GPT needed.
This is the section of the post where it's time for the close. It feels right to end it about here doesn't it? I "hear" each paragraph in my head first, then I write it down, tweaking and correcting along the way. I hope you find the joy in writing and speaking as I do, as words can trigger thoughts, emotions and dreams, while allowing us all to come together as bright lights in this beautiful world.
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Image Credit: [1] @EverNoticeThat Created using Canva.