Tag Archives: English language

‘Nothing’: Random Word Play

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So following on from my initial ‘random word play’ short writing, tonight I’m looking at the word ‘nothing’. This is the word my eyes landed on as I randomly opened the dictionary on my desk.

Pronoun: 1. not anything. 2. something that is not important or interesting. 3. nought!

The word ‘nothing’ comes from the Old English word naping and nan (meaning none/ not one) nap and ‘thing’= meaning nothing, came into the English language around the 16th century . By 1961 it became used as an adjective according to Etymology online dictionary

What do you think of when you think of ‘nothing’?

By this I mean the word, not when you literally try to think of ‘nothing at all’. To me the word nothing feels like a very empty word to me. I don’t know if this is because I know full well the meaning of the word, but I really mean this. As as I sat and contemplated the word the first thing that came to mind was literally ’empty’. Then I started to think, when was the last time I felt nothing–empty in other words? 

I’d probably say, not to long ago, around 2021 when I learned that my mum was ill and had been for sometime, but  she hadn’t said anything. I really didn’t know what to think, feel, or even say. Part of me felt angry at first and couldn’t understand why this was happening. Then I realised that there literally ( at that point in time) was ‘nothing’ that I could have done to make things better for anyone, or change anything. All I could do was along with my sisters help prepare mum for her journey out of this world, and at the same time prepare myself for that loss. The thing is I could not do either very well, I kept trying to search for the meaning of things… of life! This was after the feeling of ‘nothing’ and empty started to progress and mould itself into a new emotion.dictionary-ge95f59802_1920

Becoming Still

When I think about other times in life that I have felt a sense of ‘nothing’, what usually has followed this is a period of stillness. I am by nature a very reflective person, while I may be still in my actions, contact with others, or even my progress with writing my mind never seems to stop! I find that when I am moving through the state of nothing-ness (outside of my experience with my mum) I literally withdraw but overthink so much.

Is Becoming Still a Bad or Good Thing?

When I reflected on this, I realised and felt that generally speaking ( there I go again using that same word and phase from last week!) No, becoming still is not a bad thing. There was a point in my life when  I completely changed my life and direction, but while I made all those changes inside of me I was very still. I sat back and really thought about what I wanted out of life, where I was and was not going, and defining what I saw for myself and future. It was wonderful, it lasted a long-ass time too! I was still for a while and that stillness did wonders!

How Does One Become Still?

I think that before you decide how, why is the question? One thing I have learned is the beauty of thinking about what’s needed and why before I make a full decision. I have also learned to centre myself around ‘what’s needed’ as much as possible these days also. Become clear on why you may need to take a pause and experience the beauty of ‘nothing’ and then, withdraw yourself from any form of attachment to situations, people, places, or things you need to become still from. This will look different for everyone, whatever withdrawal looks like to you–do it. It could be your time, energy, money, resources, or even just the blessing of having your support and presence offered to others. Once you withdraw, think, reflect, and make lists of things about what you think your next move should be. Weigh up the pros and cons of each item and select the best course of action for you next, after  you leave your period of ‘still’. I find that being still often involves going deep inside one’s self too, it’s a path of discovery even if you are not actually taking and kind of action towards or from anything, you’re simply exploring from a still place.

Nothing, Not Important, Uninteresting

Now, this is what the English dictionary would have us believe the definition of ‘nothing’ means. What is not important, and should be given the energy of ‘nothing’  in life generally I think is:

  • Making ‘wars’ and conflict for no reason other than selfish gain.
  • The past, because it’s the past and should not really shape the future or continue into the future if the past has been a negative experience. Other than for lessons to be learned, I see no importance of negative past experiences to be held on to.
  • Worrying about things. It brings stress, impacts on health, and keeps you stuck in a place where you can’t see the woods from the trees! You can’t think clearly.

When I think of the dictionary definition of this word, it leads me to think of the word, action, and feeling of ‘release.’ This is due to the above three points I see as nothing, not important, and uninteresting. 

If anything, what would you release right now? Or what do you realise after reflection really needs to be released? So that you can feel ‘nothing’ and move into a state of ‘becoming still’ to figure out where you’re going next?

In conclusion, I feel after writing this nothing, stillness, and release can all (potentially) bring one thing; clarity!

‘Generally’: Random Word Play!

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A little while ago, okay let’s be honest more than a little while ago, sometime in October 2020 I gave myself the challenge to actually do as many writing prompts as I could. It sparked the ‘get to know me and rambles’ section on my blog. This week I revisited the idea of what I could do, blog about, or write about. Mainly as I now I’m through the worst of the pandemic life changes, I’m settled, and ready to revisit the world of general blog writing as I was before and fiction writing, I started to think about this challenge I set myself, not too long ago, way back when!

The news has been a wonderful source of inspiration as honestly there is so much happening in the world right now. Much of it I don’t agree with. But who wants to jump on the soapbox and be political all the time *rolls eyes*. Don’t get me wrong, activism and advocating, or even expressing views are wonderful things, I’m all for it, but I do it a lot LOL.

I put my thinking cap on and thought: why not write about words for a bit and see where it goes? Language is such an interesting thing and being bi-lingual English and French, English being my first language, it is wonderful to see similarities between languages ( especially when there’s a stark contrast ‘generally speaking’ between English and French), and it’s great to understand where words come from.

I opened the dictionary’s that’s on my desk randomly this evening at the time of writing this, my eyes landed on the world ‘generally’. This is a word I use a lot in my own speech. ‘Generally speaking’, ‘in general’ I find myself saying a-hella-lot when I reflected.

So what is this word all about and where did it come from? How did it enter the English language?

‘Generally’

Adverb: 1. in most cases. 2. without regard for details. 3. widely.

This is according to the English dictionary. From research ‘generally’ stems from the word ‘general.’ It came from influence from the ‘old French’ language around 1200, and directly from the Latin word generalis (relating to all). Around the 14th century it was first used in the English language according to Merriam-Webster dictionary

In Life is ‘Generally’ a good thing or bad?

I really started to think about this, generalisation (or generalization for my American friends), and generality are both linked to the word ‘generally’. Meaning: a broad statement, common, a general statement rather than specific.

Generalisation or to look at things generally, are both useful I think when we look at things like data and statistics. This I learned in university, as part of my research project. It is really helpful to give you an overview of things in a very ‘general way,’ so you can build up a picture and make an educated or informed decision about something. That said, to generalise people, situations, places, or things not for data or statistical purposes may not be such a great thing.

Why so? Well, I feel that generalisation or being very general with one’s view on situations, people, places, or things  can and does at times lead to things like stereotypes, preconceived ideas about a person, situation, place, or thing. This to me firstly as a woman of colour is not a good thing, there are too many of these generalisations, preconceived ideas, and stereotypes that sound this demographic of people already! If you know, you know, if you don’t get it you really need ‘to walk a mile in our shoes’ as the saying goes.

Secondly, I feel that the same applies to others also, all the ‘isms’ are free to run wild. By this I  mean discrimination and stereotypes based on sex, age, income, disability, sexuality, religion all the things that the world loves to use to ‘separate’ people, and often times not for very good, logical, or reasonable reasons.

So, ‘generally speaking’ outside of using generalisations, and looking at what generally is the norm outside of data collection, for facts, statistics, academic, scientific, and medical research to me it’s not a good thing in life. You really need to take each person or situation as an individual to a certain extent, before you generalise them or it. People, places, situations, and things should not be generalised too much.

If on the other hand the generalisation is based on personal experience, and you have had enough experience to qualify your generalisation or feeling generally about something, a situation, person, place, or thing–now that’s different. It’s a bit like collecting data for statistics ( you’ve had enough experiences) to give you an ‘average’ or ‘norm’ and can then generalise or have a feeling generally.

What do you think, is it good to generalise, or be general in life?