Meaning behind me

         I guess I’m a stickler for semantics.  You know, a guru of definitions.  See, we get so caught up in what we know, that we forget, that in a dictionary there can be more than one way to define a word.  For example, romance is not all flowers and candy.  It’s a way of seeing life.  It’s enjoying writing letters as opposed to e-mail or phone calls.  It’s looking for a rainbow after a flood instead of seeing the damage caused.  It’s the opposite of a practical, pragmatic view of the world. 

         Another thing we get caught up in is creativity.    One man’s drunken ravings are another’s high poetry.  Bob Dylan wrote beautiful poetry but abused some of the nastiest drugs.  Emily Dickinson’s words touch many people but she was suicidal.

         We often judge others by what they hold dear.  Often symbols are subject to these same multiple meanings.  Sometimes we change which meaning is common simply by using something more often.  My screen name for instance is Rainbowjay.  I chose the rainbow for its little remembered religious significance.  The rainbow was a sign for God to Noah that He would never again flood the world.  It was a symbol of a covenant.  A rainbow is also a beautiful natural occurrence, a prism of light showing all colors.  After reading those definitions, do you wonder why the symbol is so coveted?

         Since man has been able to speak and write, we have learned to alter words to our best advantage.  It is simply our ability to adapt combined with our higher brain function.  Without those skills you wouldn’t be reading this and have the ability to make your own conclusions.  So instead of being upset with the content be grateful that you can comprehend it at all.