reading, writing, & responding
May 26, 2013 § 10 Comments
There is an understated magic within written responses. A cluster of keystrokes and suddenly strangers and friends are tethered in thoughts that extend beyond the neat confines of simple typeface or hastily scribbled notes. The shape of ideas and emotions between sentiments gather us into a consciousness that is immediately intimate. Even here, despite discussions of technology interrupting the quiet connectivity within more naturally interpersonal exchanges, this space of shared thought offers borrowed moments of communication that resonate across the busyness of my days. Others’ words blend into my silence and I am left to consider perspectives that inform and inspire. Some days I want to stitch my responses among those others have gifted me, threading thoughts into a patchwork of letters to hold favorite moments close.
This intentional happenstance of reading, writing, and responding reminds me of letters long lost to old friends and distant relationships. Like the intricately folded origami notes of my teenage years tucked into textbooks and corners of dresser drawers or the painfully careful script on the unexceptional stationary of my childhood, I imagine these exchanges are endearments that connect us to pieces of self discovered over time. The voices at the end of our fragmented exchanges like shooting stars, beautiful and fleeting, writing us into new awareness across an endless evening sky and marking time by the exchange of ideas.
scribblechic 
Besides, in this medium, other bloggers can cherry-pick from your ideas and just spin them off any way we want! I suppose, though, there’s a danger in that. Those who cherry-pick (and I am guilty as anyone else) can distort the reality that is supported by the facts.
…and that is precisely why our blogs are moderated :>)
Everything written is open to interpretation, but here we are fortunate in our ability to exchange thoughts with the author of statements that resonate while simultaneously inviting new threads of thought. There have been moments my experience as a reader was as poignant as my joy as a writer.
Yes… ‘remind me of letters…’ this observance brought back my recent adventures with family. My mother still holds dear to a card… both given and received. While my youngest ’25’ only seems to respond to FB posts and texts. I seem to bridge both worlds 🙂
This personal example underscores the inherent desire to connect with others through language. I lean towards your mother’s more tangible preference, but the convenience of contemporary media is not lost on me.
An informed sense of connectedness.
The whole world is my neighbour. In every exchange my muse.
“The whole world is my neighbor. In every exchange my muse.” Poetic.
Really nice post.
“This intentional happenstance of reading, writing, and responding reminds me of letters long lost to old friends and distant relationships.”- So true!!
Thank you for taking a moment to extract a line that resonated.
“…like shooting stars, beautiful and fleeting, writing us into new awareness across an endless evening sky…”
That captures it perfectly: the transience of a shooting star set against the permanence of the sky itself. Very nice.
About the contrast between communication through technology and those old-fashioned letters and face-to-face conversations, why do we have to choose? To sacrifice either is to take a step back, I think. Or at least to be stuck.
I suppose the contrast you highlighted is a nod to ongoing conversations about the weight of various forms of communication. For me there is no choice, each form carries a certain connection that fortifies my days with friendship.