As an English major, I was taught to look deep into the meaning behind words. Authors did not come out and say exactly what they meant. Woven deep into the tapestry of their words were hidden meanings and plots within plots. It was up to me, the reader, to figure out where they were leading me. I am going to tell you that in real life, I really don’t want to untangle what you mean.
I expect you to have a straight forward conversation with me and I’ll be the same way with you. If you don’t like what I have to say, by all means, don’t ask me questions. What perplexes me most is when people read into what I am saying or writing for that matter. The written word can be a lovely thing. There are approximately 6,800 languages spoken in the world today. The interesting thing is that if you don’t call me up and actually speak to me, and you catch one snippet of what I am saying without ever asking me questions, it can be like trying to decipher one of the 6,800 languages without having the Rosetta Stone (which was pretty awesome to see).
I have found more and more people in my life do not take the time to understand something and appear to be using some version of their own translation system. It reminds me of the versions of the Bible, and how it has been translated into 6 different versions or more. The more we translate and change a thing, the more it loses some of its original meaning. I’m going to be honest, I was not aware of the Douay Rheims Bible until recently. It is a Catholic translation into English, follows the original canon, which includes the 7 books of the apocrypha, AND predates the King James version, without the same errors and old English writing style.
I found that very interesting. So the next time you read something and wonder if the person meant some fictitious story you have made up in your mind, kindly ask for their Rosetta Stone. Just lay it on out there like that and I’m sure they’ll be happy to oblige. Otherwise, it will be a year later and you’ll still be trying to figure things out. “Oh no she didn’t. I can’t believe that she wrote that about ______.” Not even close.
