Jem left a comment on the last blog… worth reading yourself.

Marc responded with this:

I think its a lesson that the narrative we tell ourselves of what is going on is not the same story others are living by. The same events can be experienced by different people in many different ways. In very real ways we’re all living in remarkably different worlds.

Marc, well said! I reread the post after reading Jem’s comment (and writing my response) and can easily see where she would get the impression she did. It actually reads this way (her way) to me when I use “other people’s eyes, which I did, but distinctly try not to do when I write. Because if I try to think about how people might interpret things it would have a bad effect, like poisoning a well.

And this is the reason I like to present stories in this form anyway. I like to write the dialogue and people can parse it however they want. I know they are going to judge the people involved and this is exactly the point. I want to present a slice of life that is authentic and let people eavesdrop and have their feelings about it whether it’s something stand alone or a story that is unfolding.

So anyway that conversation is real but it is one of many, many, many others. And perhaps if I write more of them a different picture will emerge. I don’t know.

I do know I have been writing (true) dialogue for years now and it is always interesting when someone comes up with something I don’t. Like the day someone said my sister was whiny. Hah!

I reread what I’d written and she was whiny!! But I never saw her that way because she was my BIG sister. You know. She was an icon. So then someone comes along and says, “Man that girl whines a lot” and I was just stunned. But that was a very valuable piece of information.

So anyway, I am just going to keep writing and trying to present things in as pure a form as possible. And people who read here can keep diagnosing! Because I love it.

Thanks Jem and Marc and all the other people who take the time to leave their thoughtful comments on this blog. You are all very much appreciated.