The book ‘Letters of note’ from the greater of the eponymous website was an inspiration. The contents of this wonderful book reveal the thoughts of famous personalities through beautiful prose in the form of letters. They help show another aspect of those that one might have pigeon-holed as being of a particular personality type. Richard Feynman’s letter to his dead wife is a case in point. The words used were more of a journal entry to Feynman himself, and show a warm, sentimental side that is almost absent from his books.
Putting one’s pondering down on paper or in this case, on the internet, is the modern equivalent of the stone tablet. The ancient Egyptians once banned writing as it was believed that committing words to non-oral forms would impose a powerful influence over people and verifying the origin of the thoughts was difficult. That the king of Egypt, with all the influence and power he wielded, was so worried by the threat of written language shows that this powerful man felt vulnerable to the potential of written language.
What I take from this is that words expressed in speech are like a knife that cuts sharply and be produced and retracted rapidly, but the written word truly is a sword. Slower to extract but devastating in its form.
I am blogging to
- Learn to write and become a better writer
- Learn to put my thoughts down in a rational and well-constructed way
- Get over my aversion to publicity and self-marketing
- Help others
- Make a difference, no matter how small
Thanks for reading.
Keith