Words are signposts.
They point towards what we are attempting to describe, without actually being it.
Words are labels for the real thing, but not the real thing itself. Like a sticker label on the actual item.
Words are the labels, without being the object itself. The real thing just… well… is.
Kinda obvious, right? But this brings about two interesting opportunities.
The first being the opportunity to simply witness, without labeling or classifying. To be rendered speechless by a bird in flight, or an epic landscape. To appreciate the awe-inspiring wonder of all that is.
And the second is the inherent beauty of language. The beauty is in its limitation. Words can never be the real thing. Yet a master of language can describe the actual thing so effectively that it creates a personalized visual. A mental hologram, brought to fruition within one’s own imagination.
The writer visualizes, and needs to transfer that visual into the mind of the reader. But here’s the catch, there’s no instantaneous transfer process (we all don’t telepathically communicate, ya know?). The visual must be transferred using language. There would be no room for creativity if ideas were instantly transferred between us.
Words allow one to describe something so accurately, while still leaving an infinite amount of details open to interpretation. Language exemplifies our unique individual perceptions. We could read the same passage, yet form a slightly different picture in our minds. Just as we see (decode) the same reality, yet have slightly different perceptions of it.
Limitations breed innovation. Celebrate uniqueness.
…word
