Why this is necessary
Words mean something.
They can transport and they can impede travel. They can transcend or remain packed tightly within our carefully constructed boxes.
They change lives.
I lose myself in words, in the characters they create, the worlds they paint and the hope they project. I can find myself devastated or elated by the arrangement of words. The way they dance in your head and leave you to project your own images. Leave you to find your own conclusions.
Some days, like today when I find myself curled into a tight ball, cleaving to the cold metal walls of a bathroom stall panic finding me fresh and new; words save me. Words save me when my heart is breaking. Being here in the now, in the 7:09 pm, in the 33rd year of my life, I find my words….the words of others, essential.
I am a creature of language, of unbalanced nature, of wishing to be different. But here, stripped down and bare, with only these 26 letters to define me, I find my truth.
I am driven to do this. It is as essential to me as drawing breath and as real to me as waking.
It is necessary.
May 14th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
I know that this blog is a form of therapy, and that the topics you touch upon are often heavy (mentions of farting aside) and painful (into this category we could include mentions of flatulence), but I’m glad you are taking us along for the ride. Wild though it maybe. I think you are helping many people as you lead by example.
May 14th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
I am glad you do, because your truth illuminates the truth of others. I love you!
May 14th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
words are like breath for you. as always, am glad you write, glad you share…always want more of your words. i want throw combinations of words like “hang in there” or “you’re doing great” but none of that takes away those moments of panic and fear. so i’ll say, i’m here, and i’ll read anything you write, necessary or not.
May 14th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Do you write any fiction? I think you might find it beneficial. And i know you’d be good at it.
May 14th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
And your words are healing to others, while they help heal you.
You release words into the world like sacraments.
May 14th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
ME TOO.
May 14th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
You could do just as well with half as many letters. Your gift is that big, my friend.
May 15th, 2008 at 12:22 am
I imagine you with words fluttering around your head, quivering in anticipation, whispering “me, me, oh please pick me”
May 15th, 2008 at 4:13 am
poetic truth, sister. xo
i love what hele wrote – exactly.
May 15th, 2008 at 4:41 am
I am reading Anne Lamott’s Grace (Eventually). In one of the chapters she discusses the Wailing Wall, and her habit of writing things down and stashing the notes places. It resonated with me, why my babblings burble, despite me repeatedly trying to put a lid on it.
May 15th, 2008 at 6:30 am
It IS necessary and I’m glad, proud, encouraged and inspired that you are doing it.
May 15th, 2008 at 6:35 am
wonderful
May 15th, 2008 at 6:35 am
Yes, it is necessary. And I’m glad you do it.
May 15th, 2008 at 6:41 am
Some words are bigger than others. Yours are unboundable! I hate to think of you alone in your bathroom…
May 15th, 2008 at 6:53 am
Well you have certainly mastered those 26 letters, may your words find their way into your bathroom and set you free.
Ok, so now the Beatles song “She came in through the bathroom window” will be running through my head the rest of the day.
May 15th, 2008 at 6:57 am
Words are wonderful things.
Especially yours.
May 15th, 2008 at 7:08 am
thank God you are writing.
May 15th, 2008 at 7:14 am
Cheaper than therapy and almost as effective…this writing thing. I can’t imagine NOT having the words to express sorrow or gratitude, fear or elation. It’s the tie that binds here in the blogospehere, how much we all benefit from each other’s words. So keep it coming…
May 15th, 2008 at 7:39 am
Ah, but you shake those 26 letters so well.
May 15th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Word to hele’s words.
What wonderful imagery in which to hold you in mind.
May 15th, 2008 at 9:16 am
keep using those 26 letters. keep telling us. we’re here
May 15th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Only 26 letters? You’ve done so much with them.
May 15th, 2008 at 10:43 am
I am happy to be reading your necessary.
May 15th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
They ARE necessary – they save my life and I know they save yours too…
May 15th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Words represent powerful forces that enrich, ensnare and enable us to communicate our deepest wishes and fears. And, most importantly, to SHARE them. They ARE necessary and in your hands, lovely.
May 15th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
You know what they say… The pen (or in our day and age – computer) is mightier than the sword.
You have such a command over the written word. Each post is always so eloquent.
May 15th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Woman, what you do with those 26 letters? Those marks of punctuation? Those spaces…
That is magic.
May 15th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I hear you. And I couldn’t agree more.
May 15th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Amen, dammit.
May 15th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Uummm…did I write this? Because it seems awfully familiar.
You’re in good company, my friend. Well…good in my book.
May 15th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
You.
You mean something.
You change lives.
YOU are necessary.
May 15th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Words ARE something. And so are you my friend.
May 15th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Words are powerful – how and why they are used, to convey internal experience. I’m glad you recognize that and use your gift for good.
May 15th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Words are thought, self mediation, and an expression of identity. I have found that words change our self and when we change language we mediate ourselves in a different way.
I wrote a paper on this one: saudade: a loving sense of loss (Portuguese)
Did I ever tell you that I am a linguist?
May 16th, 2008 at 9:17 am
this is why we lurchers eschew lavatories. they are places of tears and sorrow. mrs flutter, you must wee in the fresh air. and please keep up with the writing, because herself loves reading your words.
May 16th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Ohhh – that really spoke to me. It is nice to know I am not the only one who loves the choreographed dance of words.
May 17th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
You music maker, you. Lovely.
May 18th, 2008 at 5:15 am
Shared: http://blogs.chron.com/goodmombadmom/2008/05/bs_sunday.html