George Washington & the Governor of Illinois

“The foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing is a vice so mean and low that every person of sense and character detests and despises it.” – George Washington

Much has been made of the expletives used by the governor of Illinois and caught on the surveillance tapes. By George Washington’s definition, Governor Blagojevich is not a person of sense or character. The citizens of Illinois probably agree.

There was a lot of material on the tapes and eventually we will hear all of it. Regarding the segments that were released to the media, much was made of Blagojevich’s profanity. For awhile it appeared that his use of the F-word was more important to reporters than anything else on the tapes. I was surprised by the hubbub. Dropping the F-bomb has become so commonplace.

Why all the attention to one word and its derivatives? Perhaps it was because we the people hope for exemplary performance from our leaders and that includes their use of language. We do not expect our leaders to dissolve into emotional rants laced with expletives.

I have heard many writers in workshops and in interviews state that when expletives are used routinely it demonstrates a lack of skill.

According to George Washington, it demonstrates more than that.

I am Sorry for Your Loss

The phrase “I am sorry for your loss” is familiar to anyone who watches crime dramas on television. The standardized sentence gives the law enforcement officer something to say when there are no words adequate to the occasion.

I recently used the phrase myself when a neighbor lost her mother after a long illness. I never met her mother so the bereavement was not a personal one.

Using the sentence made me think about what I was actually saying. I decided this group of six words is quite powerful. We can communicate a lot of meaning when we use it.

“I” is as personal as it gets. Those of us with any life knowledge at all have experienced the loss of something dear to us whether it was a relative, beloved pet or a favorite toy. Things are mislaid, pets disappear and people move away or die. When we say we are sorry, we are sympathetic because we have some idea of how the other individual feels.

“Sorry” has a number of synonyms including sad. Because I didn’t know my neighbor’s mother, I wasn’t sad but I have been. Although my parents are still alive, my grandparents are deceased and one of my dearest friends has died.

My neighbor and her mother had been close so in addition to losing a parent, my neighbor lost a good friend. While death is one of the passages of life, knowing it is inevitable does not ease our pain when it comes to those we love. This kind of loss makes us hurt both physically and emotionally.

On one or two of those crime dramas, the characters disparaged the phrase they must use so often. I, however, appreciate it. When I used it with my neighbor, I meant it. I knew my neighbor was grief-stricken and I felt badly about it. Those six words said it all.

I am sorry for her loss.

Our Past Can Speak to Our Present

I’ve kept a journal for years in a Week-at-a-Glance calendar. That format kept the entries short as just a few lines are allotted to each date. I told myself that if I had limited space, I would be more apt to write a bit each day. And that proved to be true. I have about twelve years of personal history recorded in those calendars.

Recently I decided to read through my journals because I was looking for specific information to use in the fourth Kyle Shannon mystery. I was out of touch with one part of my life and since it is the subject of my next novel, I needed to revisit it.

While I read, I discovered something in those pages I wasn’t expecting. Approximately every three months, I had a cold, sinus infection or bronchitis and it always the worst in the spring and fall. Aha, you say. Allergies. I had the same reaction.

I’ve taken enough antibiotics in my life to keep Abbot Laboratories in business for the next twenty years so I began allergy treatments with an acupuncturist. I am pleased to say that the treatments are helping.

The subject matter of this blog is communication. When I started it, I expected to write commentary on advertisements, things I saw in the news, or my writing journey. I had no idea that the Linda of the past would be communicating so significantly with the Linda of the present.

Years from now, your journal will remind you of how you felt when your neighbor passed away or when your child brought you a lightning bug in a jar. You’ll remember the warm winters, the cool summers, and all the little bits of life that make up the bad times and the good. Your journals may even help you recognize a health care need.

People tell me that they don’t have time to keep a journal. I suggest that everyone has five minutes per day. That’s about all the time it took me to jot a few quick sentences into those Week-A-Glance calendars. I urge you to do it, too. The payoff may come years from now and it may surprise you.