Sunday, February 26, 2023

The passing of words


"Never ever thought I'd be holding a freeze dried Duck head and yet here I am."

I wrote that on Twitter based on a real life experience. Those are my fingers in the photo holding one.

"Man! It's a bitch to have things to write but with no energy and little focus, it's not books, speeches, sermons or blogs anymore ... Only Tweets ... which no one likes."

That's another Tweet I wrote.

I've heard it said that "Twitter is for people who can't write paragraphs" and, I suppose, that's me these days.

"It's hard admitting that books as we've known them are becoming obsolete and will soon disappear entirely."

A depressing Tweet I wrote but it's true as the glories of cracking the binding on a newly purchased tome, the aroma of ink on paper, the touch of the cut edge of a single page on my fingers and the disappointment in closing a book and tenderly placing it on the shelf has been replaced by Kindle.

Libraries don't have as many books these days.

The Book stores still open are morphing into novelty shops for an increasingly diminishing group of collectors who are dying off.

I do not despair because I've been blessed to waste hundreds of hours of my life engrossed in books, majestic Libraries and marvelous booksellers all over the world.

I wouldn't be "ME" without these investments and wonder how Che's generation will read for pleasure? 

I'm sure whatever the methodology, it will be cool but, it pains me she'll likely never experience the orgasmic joy of finding a long desired book in a musty smelling bookstore, with worn real carpet to sit in as every facet of what's being held is joyfully "experienced" as I immediately open it up, sit on the floor and "get lost."

But "A one hitter is completely different in baseball than in Weed."

I didn't write that Tweet. Somebody named Jay Davis did.

It may-or-may-not-be James' photograph beside what may-or-may-not be his name because on Twitter nobody's who they say they are, yet people share the truth as they see it.  I find it great fun and that's where I spend the vast majority of my social media time now.

"Instead of cigarettes this week I bought a couple of albums and a small villa in the south of France."

I wish I'd written that Tweet but "WhatserName" did as it cleverly states the high cost of everything that everyone's, not just Sarah and I are, experiencing!

"Hictoryhaggis" tweets "The wheels on the bus fell off kids" and I can't agree more!

I miss the hours spent with a pen in my hands or, for the last two decades, fingers flying over a keyboard; prayerfully waiting on the words; the miracle of creation as words come from nowhere and I struggle to organize them because they come so fast; Sentences becoming paragraphs that turn into pages as stories are born and, "the word becomes flesh."

It's always been a big part of who I am and it's hard admitting I'm not that anymore.

"Thank God those days are over!"

That's something I say a lot so I'll probably tweet it now that I remember.

Sarah's forever challenging me to stay focused on the present, where I'm at and who I'm with, and not be perpetually distracted by things that suck away my energy or distract my attention with frivolous thoughts.

"Like with most everything else, my wife is right," I may Tweet but haven't yet.

I don't have it in me anymore to paint stories with words though I can still manage to assemble coherent sentences several times a day.

The way I see it, God made Twitter for me!

Though She evidently sold it to Elon Musk for a gazillion dollars and he's as crazy as everybody else who's in charge of something these days and, I find, it's lots of fun to watch and read.

"Well Hell! I'm high but there's no horse!"

That is one of my Tweets!

I think it's hilarious but no one else has.

It's okay.

I'm having a good time anyway.

"I've done a lot of things in my life and can talk about most of them," is another one of mine but the truth is I've already told all my stories and they're in some libraries, a few antique booksellers and scattered across cyberspace if anyone's interested in tracking them down.

My job was to tell my story and everything's done except the finale that Sarah and I are writing together.

"Siri, clear my calendar," Coach Rusty tweets, "I'm stoned and forgot all my passwords."

I can relate that this part of my journey is all about spending energy and maintaining focus on life's most important things and that doesn't leave much for anything else. 

"Not bragging but I slept 10 hours last night which is 7 more than my cumulative nightly average over the last two years. Now my cumulative average is 3.0002/hrs sleep/night!"

That's my Tweet this morning and I think it's hilarious, though no one else agrees yet, full of truth (though I admit the math is totally made up) and says lots about how Sarah and I live.

"I don't know how people can believe in miracles," Wilde Thingy tweets, "after all those times miracles didn't happen?"

I get what he's saying. We've certainly prayed for lots that never came to anything.

Yet, here I am!

We're one Hell of a Miracle and I don't want to miss it as it's happening.

I hope the same for you!

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