Posts Tagged meaning
A week with Paulo Coehlo teaches the importance of meaning
Posted by David C. Buchan in Inspiration and motivation, Writing on May 14th, 2009
Reading time: 1 – 2 minutes
No, I haven’t been lucky enough to spend a week with author Paulo Coehlo personally yet in a way I have. In his most recent Warrior of the Light newsletter he has shared a week’s worth of experiences with his readers.
Sometimes readers complain that I say very little about my private life in this column. I do talk a lot – mostly about my questionings in the imaginary world. They insist: “but what’s your life like?” Well, then, for a whole week I went out with a notebook and jotted down more or less what happens in seven days. Paulo Coehlo
Facebook, Twitter and all other types of social media allow us the opportunity to share our lives with others in small snippets. This article could just have easily been done using any of those methods or via blog entries, yet what makes it stand out for me is the meaning exhibited. Paulo’s observations are much more than what he did. They are how he felt about what he did and that makes for a much more engaging read.
What would you learn about yourself if you were to undertake such an exercise? What would your friends and family learn about you? Would you find more meaning in life if you sought it in the experiences you already have?
We just don’t have the words for it
Posted by David C. Buchan in Self improvement on June 2nd, 2005
Reading time: 1 – 2 minutes
If you have read the “The Meaning of Liff” by Douglas Adams, you will know there are lots of meanings for which there are no words. How would you sum up a nostalgic yearning which is in itself more pleasant than the thing being yearned for. Adams chose the word “Aberystwyth” based on a town name.
This is a somewhat fictional example, yet it does happen in real life as well.
Bookcrossing is the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise. It was recently added to the Oxford Concise Dictionary’s list of new words as were cyberwar and designer baby. Have you heard the term podcasting yet?
By failing to recognise there aren’t sufficient words, we can get trapped in trying to define everything under a single existing word or into making existing words fit. This wastes time and is a failure of communication.
So next time you find yourself in a definition war (the activity of arguing over definitions at the cost of understanding), remember it’s the understanding you want first and foremost.
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Charter for Compassion
