I think of myself as a reasonably intelligent human being. But helping my ten-year-old with his homework is challenging that belief.
The other day I had to look up the difference between complex and compound sentences. I am, apparently, not smarter than a 5th grader.
Reading about grammar got me thinking about semicolons, commas, periods and fragments.
Once upon a time I dreamed of being a writer. The written word has always been the place I feel most at home. I’m one of those people that turn to books for almost everything; for information, for comfort, for entertainment, for growth.
So much of my inner landscape has been shaped by what I have read. Even as a child, I longed to connect with people the way that the written word connects with me. I’ve heard it said that no writer actually enjoys the writing process, but most of the time I do. When I sit down to write, I feel a bridge between that inner landscape and the outer world. I love it.
But I learned as a teenager that it’s very difficult to make a living by writing, so I let go of that dream. I put a period at the end of the sentence. I moved on to lots of education and practice in a career that I love and enjoy. I am so immensely grateful for the work I do, and I truly cannot imagine a greater honor or joy in work. This is undoubtedly my life’s vocational calling.
But recently I’ve been wondering if maybe I used a period where I should have used a semicolon. Maybe I thought the sentence was:
Once upon a time I dreamed of being a writer.
But what if the sentence actually goes:
Once upon a time I dreamed of being a writer; however, I became a psychologist first and then a writer.
Or maybe:
Once upon a time I dreamed of being a writer, and I fulfilled that dream in small and fulfilling ways throughout the course of my life.
I don’t really know how the sentence ends, but I am beginning to wonder if perhaps I used a period where a comma or semicolon would be the better choice.
I think we do this all the time. We like the closure and finality a period provides. We like simple sentences. They are neat and tidy and easy to understand. And because we cannot see the future, we naturally assume that wherever we are is the end.
The end of the conversation, the end of the relationship, the end of the dream. We think things will always be the way they are, that we will always feel the way we feel. Period.
But life is bigger than a sentence. Life is commas and semicolons, paragraphs and pages, chapters and sequels.
Where you are today may not be the end of sentence; it definitely is not the end of the story. Where you are today is not where you will be tomorrow or a year from now. Thoughts and feelings and relationships and dreams and possibilities, they all change and shift.
I don’t care how old you are. Each breath is an opportunity for the story to unfold and expand.
I want to leave lots of space open for the commas and the semicolons that life might have for me. There are chapters left to write, and I’m excited to see what happens.