be(ing)
January 7, 2015 § 6 Comments
I possess an undeniable affinity for messages of worth that empower an appreciation for, confidence in, and expectation of growth; values and endearments, affirmations and declarations that speak to individuality and resilience. I scribble words into the texture of my day with artwork and jewelry, letters and lists; goals and promises that guard the sanctity of my dreams for the life I craft with my choices.
Still, some days the language of my hope suffocates the joy from more imperfect experiences as the words that measure my accomplishments do not align with the image of self that is fractured with shortcomings.
What if instead of holding to the cookie cutter, hashtag culture of abbreviated, social media mission statements we edited our wishes to a quieter contentment? Perhaps it is enough to Be without more grand aspirations of excellence trapped in exhaustive adjectives that suffocate gratitude for less with expectations of excess.
I speak only of my doubts as I sift through emotions and questions that challenge my assumptions and tendencies; condensing an image of self into catch phrases that overlook the complex contradictions of individuality that resist generic exaggerations of accomplishment. Perhaps our greatest accomplishments require only the courage to be ourselves.
scribblechic 
“What if instead of holding to the cookie cutter, hashtag culture of abbreviated, social media mission statements we edited our wishes to a quieter contentment? Perhaps it is enough to Be without more grand aspirations of excellence trapped in exhaustive adjectives that suffocate gratitude for less with expectations of excess.” Perfect. You said that so grandly, and yet with so much simplicty.
Thank you, Kay. I felt a little prudish and preachy, hopefully my frustration does not presume a judgmental inference.
AHHHH this sounds like me !!
I’m always intrigued to know the particulars of a stranger’s understanding. If I might ask, which similarity resounded with you?
Back in the day I was frequently required to do educational research. Sometimes the results were in the form of numbers–summary statistics that often pointed to trends and possibly truths. From time to time though I also got the opportunity to gather stories from those studied. Invariably I found the greater, more complex truths emerging from the ‘thick descriptions’ that the participants would provide.
As a leader, early on, I often found myself frantically trying to distill simplicity from the reams of data. At some point, though, I realized that the true treasure was contained within the complexity and that trying to tease out the pithy bits was as useless as trying to choose a few representative pieces to communicate the beauty of an entire museum! Sometimes you just have to go ahead with the maddening, chaotic but often beautiful reality 🙂
I couldn’t agree more, Maurice. While I’m certain that the condensed language of so many social media forums serve a need, I ache for full sentences and rambling reflections that underscore the complexities of simpler truths.