The Problem With Words…

The problem with writers: we are so full of words.

There’s a line in one of my favorite Woody Allen movies, Midnight in Paris, that always cuts me to my core. As the roller-coaster love story of Gil and Adriana comes to an end, Gil realizes that running from life’s imperfections isn’t the answer. He realizes that he has to embrace them and find out why life is still worth it with them. Adriana responds…

That’s the problem with writers, you are so full of words.

My frustrated, silent retort is always something to the effect that maybe it’s not a problem with the writers, it’s a problem with the words. Their definitions can be so different depending on the circumstances. It’s like when you marvel at how beautiful that lake is at sunrise, but then you’re taken back again at how beautiful yet completely different it renders at sunset. It’s not the lake that’s changed, only the light with which you’re seeing it.

I always feel uncomfortable when someone comments that they “wish they had the courage to do what I’m doing, or that they see what I’m doing as inspirational.” I never mean to be disingenuous or insincere. But most of the ways I define courage involve overcoming massive emotional or physical struggles. Facing and persevering through seemingly insurmountable odds in one way or another.

That doesn’t sound in the least like any sentiment that I’m deserving of, especially considering I spend so much time trying to find my own courage.

There Are A Couple Painful Little Questions In The Long-Term Travel Community, But Most Avoid Them.

The questions of “So what are you chasing,” or “So what are you running from?” But what happens if you’re caught in the void? What happens when you don’t really know? Is it possible to be both chasing something and running from something at the same time? Or how can it be possible to be seen as inspirational when you spend every waking minute trying to find inspiration yourself?

That’s one of the problems with the comparison game we have within this new “look at me” world we’re living in.

Sometimes we worry too much about how the other person is seeing things through their lens or whether it’s different from the way we’re seeing it through our own. We concentrate too hard on trying to find a stark difference in whether something is right or whether it’s wrong. Black or white. Beauty or Beast.

Maybe we would be better served to appreciate the shades of gray that make up the space between the two. Maybe it’s OK to reside somewhere in the middle.

To be OK with being both inspired and inspirational, weak and strong, humble yet proud. Because when it comes down to it, we could never truly appreciate the sweet without the sour, the good without the bad, the highs without lows, or the beauty without the beast.

Or maybe that’s just the problem with us writers, we’re too full of words.

Cheers!

— Jason