Sept 3 Daily Entry -- Purpose

I believe that all the words we use every day are simply clothing for real communicative purposes underneath.

If we go to the deli to order a sandwich, there are a lot of different words we can use to get the sandwich, and a lot of ways to be polite or to fit in. But underneath the dressing, there is a simple desire being conveyed: the want of a sandwich.

Before you enter into an interaction, think about what is really happening there. There is a meeting. The supervisor wants to "check in" but what is it that she really wants to happen. She wants to know if the employee is happy? If the employee is doing her job? If she needs help? If she is independent enough to be left alone?

And what does the employee want? Clear expectations? Assistance? Careful neglect?

I like to imagine what the world would be like if we lost our words. If we had to communicate the underlying truths. If we couldn't lie with language. If the ideas of people and things and the world we live in escaped the rigid cage of language, and our carefully crafted distinctions began to vanish.

If we saw the world as newborns -- this is all me. I extend beyond myself. I am part of this plane which I struggle to understand.