Life is a plethora of punctuation.
I like periods. Short sentences. Some of my sentences may even lack a subject or a verb. Grammarly tells me so.
Because I like periods. Not just at the end of short sentences, but at the end of conversations. Long dialogues wear me out. The definition of “long,” of course, varies with subject and fellow dialogger (take that, Grammarly) but when there’s strife or disagreement, my definition of “long” is pretty short.
I don’t think it’s because I want to win my way quickly. I think it’s because I want the truth quickly. I want to get to the bottom of things, embrace the whole truth, wrap it up and seal it with the adhesive they use to put price tags on beautiful pottery. I’m insecure in the midst of uncertainty.
On the other hand, I don’t have much use for commas. Commas cause me to lose momentum and derail my train of thought and just might jeopardize my place in the conversation. Commas are no friend of the monologue otherwise known as “diatribe.”
I have such mixed emotions about the exclamation point! It’s so, so, so — capricious! Take the word “OK!” One day, a reader left this comment: “OK! Next.” When I read that, I thought, “Great! He likes what I wrote! He wants more!” After a day of entertaining my ego, I realized he more likely meant, “OK! Shut up! I’m on to something worth reading.” My rising aspirations of a writing career crumbled! I thought, “I might as well just quit! I don’t have anything to say!” But the next morning, after a sleepless night with the Lord, I got up thinking, “OK! It’s a new day! Onward! Even a disagreeable reader is a reader!”
I guess it’s all about balance.
Sometimes dialogues need to end. Period. No more clarity can be found there. It’s time to shake hands or hug and go for coffee. Laugh at ourselves. Talk about frivolous things. Yet leave the door open for another conversation, another time. Because some dialogues are meant to continue. We need to be tenacious and stalwart, and although it may be hard to keep going, it’s important not to quit.
And our dialogues should be filled with emotion! We should be bringing our whole heart to the table! But those dialogues should be conducted face-to-face. Exclamations on paper (or digital) can be garbled by the distance.
Anyone else like me out there? You have a love/hate relationship with the question mark? It makes you a little nervous when you see it approaching? What if it challenges things I hold dear? What if it heralds correction?
Would that really be so bad?
Shouldn’t we leave room for questions? Don’t we need to hear what others have to say? Isn’t it a true friend who will challenge those things we’ve been sure of for too long? Without letting go of those things that are without a doubt true, can’t we all use a dose of perspective?
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