I can even strike out a
I know why I got bogged down in my writing as a youngster. It was too hard to edit my work. I had arrows and numbers and asterisks and checkmarks and words crawling down the margins to show where I wanted to insert more thoughts or make changes in my writing. I am so grateful to the person that invented "cut n' paste".
Don't you wish you could edit your spoken words? When I'm tired, my tongue doesn't say what my mind is thinking. I sometimes get my twords wisted up. I want to BACKSPACE and EDIT them, maybe using SPELL CHECK or use a THESAURUS, too.
I may say a hurtful phrase because I didn't PREVIEW or think about how it would sound before letting it past my lips. I want to push BACKSPACE or DELETE or STRIKE OUT...but it's too late. I might have the chance to apologize, but the hurt is still there.
I think that's why I like to write more than speak. It's so much easier to proofread my words. When I speak, it's so hard to say exactly what I want to say. I can't see if something looks right before I "SEND" it. (Is it polite? Is it correct grammar? Will this person understand that word? Is that fact correct?) It's a lot for my mind to think about before I speak.
I can't always write my words; I have to let God teach me to control my spoken words, too.
8 comments:
I'm with you. Would be nice to delete things I've said. There's also things that I'd like to keep in my brain forever and ever but they never stay. That's why written words are so very nice, too.
Yvonne,
I love your thoughts about the delete feature of our modern-day writing tools, and how they could be utilized profitably with our mouths! Very, very true!
I had to laugh at your description of your writing when you were younger... arrows, asterisks, checkmarks, etc. That's how mine was too. And when I first started at FaithWriters, I would write everything out longhand and then type it into my computer. Of course, that didn't last long; just had to overcome my initial resistance to the PC and the idea of that new-fangled word processing program.
Nowadays, I find it almost impossible to write by hand. And it's because of the ability my computer gives me to write, re-write, paraphrase, cut and paste, delete, strikeout, etc. My brain can be as creative as it wants to be, because I know I can go back and edit easily!
Many blessings,
Cheri
PS - Have you discovered www.dictionary.com? That's one of my favorite websites when I'm writing!
Amazing thoughts, Yvonne. Wonderful lesson for all of us (me especially!)
Can I delete a day? Cuz today would be a delete day for sure? Good news though, I have a blogging award for you over at http://thesurrenderedscribe.blogspot.com/ Congrats!
Oh - and check out my blog for a little "present" from me :D
Excellent post! I have had this thought often, especially what you said about the hurt remaining even if you could delete the words. Words can scar people for life; even if they do ask for forgiveness, the memory may never completely go away. Something to remember before we speak and do the same to others!
Absolutely, Vonnie. The story of my mouth my whole life: Delete, delete, delete. My husband always says, "Words once spoken can never be retrieved." That has helped me so much.
Mom, do you remember how Mr. Gross would describe the spoken word, or more specifically the hurtful spoken word? He would say, "Go up on the roof of a building on a windy day, carrying only a feather pillow. Once on top, open the pillow and pull out a handful of feathers... let it go! Now, try to put every feather back into the pillow." Obviously the point of this was to show how quickly words are spread and how impossible it is to take them back.
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