18 Words. Words. Words.

 In Chapter 2  of Through the Looking Glass      
"When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.”

“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”

     “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master – – that’s all.”

     And I would add to that; “Is one’s heart or mind the master or an amalgam of the two or can you be sure of conveying any of the possible yield of three.?”

Last week a friend told me, “The mind seeks what the heart already knows.”

     Earlier today I said something to another friend that may not come off well, as words too often fail to do; and may not speak for the whole of what I intend.

     “The phone may work for the mind but it may not convey what the heart knows. The phone may well be electric But I doubt that the essence of my heart can travel through a phone. If there wasn’t something mysteriously wonderful about proximity; why shake hands or why hug or why a queen-size bed.”

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     Bosco, the border collie, said, “The man who calls me for supper just looks at me and I know what he is thinking without any words. And there have been times that he spoke to me without heart and I just couldn’t hear him.”

     “What a mystery! Words can be smoke without fire”, squawked Polly, the Sissoru parrot, "As a parrot I say a lot of words that I don’t have a feel for. People call it ‘parroting’; but it gets me a lot of crackers.”

    “Do you believe that it is as simple as that? Words, words and so many that have lost heartfelt meaning resulting in humans losing faith in each other?”, cried Myrtle, the turtle.

     “I, for one, feel that you have struck a chord or even a whole chorus deep within my soul; but what can we do about it?”, sobbed Coqui, the frog. 

     “As facilitator, I should remind us all that we, as a group, must row our boat in unison or else we fail,” cooed Mary, the white pelican.

     “At the risk of me-too-ism, I rise to agree with my whole goatee,” chimed BillyG 

     “Wait just a minute. Let’s slow down a bit. If words were the only problem it would be easy and we all know better than that,” croaked Buddy, the agouti.

      “What do you mean?,” fluttered Free, the butterfly.

     “Well, I am glad that you asked,” Buddy returned , “Some words sound like music to me and others a literal cacophony of sound. Words can have a tone and a meter that I yearn for. I listen for an honest heartfelt tone.”

      “ Now I get it. People have so many words that they just throw them around without deep feeling,” mused Biggy, the mountain chicken.

    “This conversation is a literal harmony and the opposite of cacophony”, cartwheeled Hummy (through the air, at that).

      And the entire group of 24 slid into a silent song that rippled around the double circle causing whiskers to flick, skin to crawl, and hearts to beat in unison.

     Mira, the sloth, crooned, “Love one another, everything else is unacceptable.”

Suggested reading:

The Origins of Creativity by Edward O Wilson 

The Evolution of Beauty by Richard O Prum