I so so enjoy this! What’s intriguing too is how often you’ve made the point in the past that writings should serve sone sort of purpose…..should serve or remember the reader….yet you are so right that conversations are not writing, YET they should have that nuanced flair of poesyness and wit. Just dig your thinking. And you may prefer the Alain de Botton ol’ method of communicating https://www.themarginalian.org/2016/08/15/alain-de-botton-the-course-of-love-communicator/
Thank you, Trilety. I appreciate that you connected this with other essays—I would certainly like to believe that this fits in with what I've written in the past. Thanks for the link too.
Your essay reminds me of what happens when I sketch for pleasure, or try a little stream of consciousness writing. The results are often fresh, artful, and satisfying—even though there was no goal or imagined outcome. I think communication is like this sometimes. For example, the random conversation with a fellow traveler on a flight. Or a chat with fellow dog walkers in the park. And these wonderful, unplanned moments of communication are frequently lovely. Not everything, including communication, needs a prescribed outcome. It can be a gift unto itself.
Thank you for the comment and the artfully described examples, John. I find it notable that your examples might, rather paradoxically, lead to an outcome—a new friend, a worthwhile time, plans to meet again—which is sometimes harder when it is forced.
I so so enjoy this! What’s intriguing too is how often you’ve made the point in the past that writings should serve sone sort of purpose…..should serve or remember the reader….yet you are so right that conversations are not writing, YET they should have that nuanced flair of poesyness and wit. Just dig your thinking. And you may prefer the Alain de Botton ol’ method of communicating https://www.themarginalian.org/2016/08/15/alain-de-botton-the-course-of-love-communicator/
Thank you, Trilety. I appreciate that you connected this with other essays—I would certainly like to believe that this fits in with what I've written in the past. Thanks for the link too.
Your essay reminds me of what happens when I sketch for pleasure, or try a little stream of consciousness writing. The results are often fresh, artful, and satisfying—even though there was no goal or imagined outcome. I think communication is like this sometimes. For example, the random conversation with a fellow traveler on a flight. Or a chat with fellow dog walkers in the park. And these wonderful, unplanned moments of communication are frequently lovely. Not everything, including communication, needs a prescribed outcome. It can be a gift unto itself.
Thank you for the comment and the artfully described examples, John. I find it notable that your examples might, rather paradoxically, lead to an outcome—a new friend, a worthwhile time, plans to meet again—which is sometimes harder when it is forced.