13 September 2006

"...so much to say and no language to say it in"*

i confess. i have coweringly postponed the posting of "the news".

how does one blog about something so completely life-altering? it's a daunting and tremblesome task, emotionally comparable to the President's delivery of a memorial address two days ago.**

you must give a speech. everyone already knows what you will say, but you still have to say it. and make it sound new and unexpected and engaging. the information is neither new nor unexpected, so your audience will likely concentrate on style rather than content. it is style that engages...or exhausts.

you want to use those weary, worn-out words because, for you, they have taken on new life.

miracle. future. joy. life. love.

but you know these empty clichés only clash with your heart-filled purpose.

how do you polish a word to make it convey truth when everyday use has so cheapened its meaning?

a miracle is not the nearest parking space at the mall.
a future is not a dream job with six figures.
joy is not clean dishes.
life is not a sport.
love is not mcdonald's.

what these things are, we will continue to discover little by little. and we will spend lifetimes trying to articulate the revelation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*from My Name is Aram, by William Saroyan
**i am aware of the pretentiousness of this claim--forgive me if i overstate my case

12 comments:

Steve Davis said...

um, does this mean what I think it means? I'm holding off my congrats until I make sure I'm reading this right because I'm not that smart. Btw, we live in DC now. :)

(steve)

jmg said...

indeed, it does! :)

congrats on the move. are you liking the new job?

Anonymous said...

Why is my spidey-sense telling me to knit wee things?

Rebecca said...

Marvelous! Thank you!

I cannot wait to see you, my friend.

The Rock Lobster said...

Ditto on the knitting wee things. You do realize that your entire offspring's new wardrobe will consist of mostly of knitted apparel, right?

jmg said...

our baby will be so fashionable!

i can't wait to find out the sex so i can start a wee blanket :)

starbuck said...

1> too many "wee"s.

2> Jenn might disagree w/you @ the meaning of joy. you'll understand better, after a few years w/the wee addition.

3> nice line @ the parking space. we had such a great childhood, didn't we? it's amazing we're all still sane. well, i'm not so sure @ scoupe...

4> how apropriate is this news, in conjunction w/the title of your last post!

5> CONGRATULATIONS!!!

jmg said...

thanks! glad you caught the vague reference on the parking space :)

a suburban housewife said...

Hi, Jenna! I found you through, where else, Taylor's blog. Remember me? I'm the one who stupidly asked if you are Taylor's mom?!

Congratulations!!

taylor said...

hey...do they make maternity avitars? :-)

Congrats again, and knitting wee things sounds fab, count me in!

scøüpe said...

in deference to using all of those worn-out, over-used clichés attempting to focus on the monumentousness of the occasion, try something simpler. as such, i simply tell people, "did ya hear? my wee sis' just got knocked up!"

and hurry up on the gender, i need to decide which pooh character your wee one's going to get first.

Anonymous said...

told ya his sanity should be questioned...