As the year rumbles on at a rapid rate and Father Xmas cheers on his reindeers to get to each household on time, we still have a few days to ponder about our wishes for the new year and think about the year that was.
In the last week or so, I’ve been thinking about connections, and more particularly connections with words. Of course, there are many types of connections or communications in life though if one had to simplify it, it seems to me that there are really two primary types: verbal and written. Most of our communications are either spoken in words or delivered in writing. Think of the words of a song, the lines of the poem. What of the flow of the dance? Perhaps I must add a third- the visual, so to include works of art and images of form. Nonetheless, each is type of communication. Gestures too, the non-verbal body language, can connect. Hugs especially.
But for me at least, it is the written word that connects. It connects me to my soul and it connects me to the outside world. And since the writing finally culminated in my story in its printed form earlier in the year, I have been richly rewarded by comments from various sources on how my words have connected with others.
And I now understand more about the true power of the written word because it seems that words can forge a connection for people to their own thoughts and allow them to reflect on things that perhaps otherwise they may never have. Let me explain.
I received an sms last week ( yet another string of words, another connection) from a friend to whom I had given my book and who wrote to tell me she had finished it. She wrote to tell me that though she never expected to enjoy it much (due to the fact that I was a friend and therefore her reading of it was almost an obligatory though polite gesture necessary to nurture the friendship, and of course, I was a novice author after all) she found herself really enjoying it. Why? Because in her words, “it was a wonderful summing up through my story, of all our fears, insecurities, dreams, shortcomings and achievements as mothers and as women, however small and personal.” And she went on to comment about her own life and about how the story had caused her to reflect on her own life and assess it for what it was: to evaluate it in all its forms and decide on the things that mattered most. And this seemed a good thing to do and made the words so much more worthwhile.
It occurred to me some time after the communication in that sms, that this was the power of the written word. And it made me want to do more of this.
But of course, not everyone needs to connect in this way because there are many others ways of connecting and in fact just scrolling through Facebook is perhaps the most prolific way of connecting with others, even if not with your soul and it made me think that connecting, in whatever way, is a wonderful thing and we, as humans and essentially gregarious beings, thrive on all our connections.
And what better time to connect than at Christmas- a time of giving, of connecting and reflecting? So consider this set of words a connection of a kind, a connection to the outside world to wish you all well and wish you peace over Christmas and into the New Year. And to extend this wish to those who need it perhaps more than others and I can think of many of these.
And one of these that comes to mind, is Jenna Lowe who is fighting so bravely for the gift of breath and the gift of speech. To be able to connect with the world.
May 2015 bring all sorts of good connections. Hugs especially.
Niki Malherbe 