It's a curious thing what your mind stumbles on when you least expect it to churn.
Here I am, editing perhaps the 1000th article where semi-colons are liberally being substituted for colons and periods, and thinking... aren't they teaching punctuation at school any more???
And then it strikes me.
Life IS a series of punctuation marks.
Some mornings I get ready to brave the world and nothing but a capital letter will do. It screams: Watch out world I'm going to make a mark today. No spurts, no starts. Just a fine dash to the finish line and victory.
Then come those mornings when my head is a whirl of dashes and colons: Do I need to explain this a million times? Where am I losing you? Perhaps I'm NOT speaking English??? Seriously!
Of course I'm not saying there aren't those blessed sunshiny mornings too when I can be gingerly on my way, and the colours of the world seem that much brighter and the cobwebs in my head clear, and there's time to stop and smell the roses. It's a pristine comma... giving me pause and permission to stand still and breathe. Ahhhhhaaa!
Would be a perfect moment, right? But then I have to go and channel (?): "Excuse me, did you forget? There's the laundry to be picked up; the furniture that needs to be replaced; the plumber whose number you have to call before 5pm; the groceries to get; the dinner for five to prepare; the reports you need to hand in to your boss by noon; and the high heels you need to borrow from your sister before dinner." Quote marks, semi-colons and lists! They keep me on track. Or do they?
In the maelstorm that often follows such episodes, I'm tripping on those moments when nothing makes sense and life is just one question mark after another: What am I doing here? Who am I? How could I have missed that? Couldn't I have seen those warning signs? What will I do now?
And the confusing greys give way to dark black mind clouds.
But then, every once in a while I'm thrown a miracle, and it takes my breath away. Then all I can say is ... AB-SO-LUTE-LY NOTHING!
Here I am, editing perhaps the 1000th article where semi-colons are liberally being substituted for colons and periods, and thinking... aren't they teaching punctuation at school any more???
And then it strikes me.
Life IS a series of punctuation marks.
Some mornings I get ready to brave the world and nothing but a capital letter will do. It screams: Watch out world I'm going to make a mark today. No spurts, no starts. Just a fine dash to the finish line and victory.
Then come those mornings when my head is a whirl of dashes and colons: Do I need to explain this a million times? Where am I losing you? Perhaps I'm NOT speaking English??? Seriously!
Of course I'm not saying there aren't those blessed sunshiny mornings too when I can be gingerly on my way, and the colours of the world seem that much brighter and the cobwebs in my head clear, and there's time to stop and smell the roses. It's a pristine comma... giving me pause and permission to stand still and breathe. Ahhhhhaaa!
Would be a perfect moment, right? But then I have to go and channel (?): "Excuse me, did you forget? There's the laundry to be picked up; the furniture that needs to be replaced; the plumber whose number you have to call before 5pm; the groceries to get; the dinner for five to prepare; the reports you need to hand in to your boss by noon; and the high heels you need to borrow from your sister before dinner." Quote marks, semi-colons and lists! They keep me on track. Or do they?
In the maelstorm that often follows such episodes, I'm tripping on those moments when nothing makes sense and life is just one question mark after another: What am I doing here? Who am I? How could I have missed that? Couldn't I have seen those warning signs? What will I do now?
And the confusing greys give way to dark black mind clouds.
But then, every once in a while I'm thrown a miracle, and it takes my breath away. Then all I can say is ... AB-SO-LUTE-LY NOTHING!
