you are reading my words.
My words are on a screen.
My words are sounded out in my head, in your head.
My words are not my words anymore.
They are your words because
my words are on a screen.
And you're not hearing me say them (and, no,
hearing them in your head doesn't count).
So what am I doing while writing these words?
I'm sitting in my Hemingway chair,
half listening to House and
trying to sound like an expert
on words.
I bet you thought I was in a library or study
engrossed in insights with Schoenberg in the background.
(I'm an English teacher. I must love musty books, right?)
I bet you are perusing through blogs,
trying to find something interesting.
You're sipping coffee and
you're picking out your outfit for tomorrow.
I bet I'm wrong, but something in me
just doesn't care because I like the idea of you
choosing your summer attire in a humid walk-in
closet.
You're welcome.
-----------
As you can see, the reading we've been doing has stuck in my brain. The Suler chapters dealing with Online Relationships have piqued my interest. I'd like to select a few quotes and offer an opinion on them. I hope such an arrangement will suffice, so let's begin.
- "Composition can advance when people feel safe to explore; it regresses when they feel threatened, hurt, or angry" ("Let's Text: Writing Skills, Styles, Attitudes").
What a quote. Perhaps this notion seems like a no-brainer, but you'd be surprised how often we overlook this throughout the day. People feel safe when they know they're not being studied. For example, folks hate public speaking because they know they're being studied and judged. However, the same can be said for one's writing. (Kinda like the way you're judging me because I'm an English teacher and writer.)
The best writing can come when one isn't hyper-focused on the text itself. Speaking of which...
- "Composition can advance when people feel safe to explore; it regresses when they feel threatened, hurt, or angry" ("Let's Text: Writing Skills, Styles, Attitudes)
Everyone has experienced the chill of penning an email for dozens to see. What if I make a homonym error? What if I put an apostrophe in the wrong place? Also, I'm sure you have received a curt email that deserved a scathing response. So much can go wrong with the Internet Word. Know why?
Immediacy.
Some things weren't meant to be fast (e.g. food, sleep, sex, showers, Stanley Kubrick movies). Some things require slow, methodical thought. When you wrote a pen-to-paper letter to grandma, you put thought into what you wanted to tell her. Also, you took your time so she can make out the words through her 75 year-old cataracts. Now? You vomiting out your blog, often times worrying about what Dr. Bob is going to give you for a grade. Yeah, you're worrying, but your vomiting/writing is immediate. Where's the hovering above lined paper or scented stationary? Your blog is your word, darn it. And now...
my words are yours because I'm going to bed. Think what you will about them. I'm interested in hearing from you regarding Suler's theories on Internet text. Tomorrow I'll get around to the case study and online love.
Help keep my conversation going!
very refreshing post :)
ReplyDeleteKris, I can see that you are becoming a Sulerite as so many before you. I don't know if Suler is always right (he's not an empirical type) but he's almost always provocative. In a text only environment, words are both prosasic and magic, conjuring up images and emotions alike. I think Suler is hip to the poetic implications of cybertalk and that everyone who puts anything in online text is some kind of poet if we can see it. Anyway, it's a nice metaphor. You raise a good point about surveillance. It's in the nature of things that Dr. Bob is the ultimate arbiter of this grade thingy so, yeah, unavoidable that there may be some anxiety about public sharing, beyond the usual fear of public expression you so ably describe. It is what it is and people will (and are) coming to terms with it. That is, I'm impressed with the value added to the conversation by almost all of the contributions so far (that's me in my praising mode).
ReplyDeleteDr. Bob