Posting Comments

Today I received a comment on one of my Blogs; Double Dipping. I like receiving comments whether they are complimentary or derogatory in nature. First it tells me that someone has actually read what I had written. And secondly they give me direction. Unfortunately I do not get very many comments. To me this means that I do not get very many readers that were interested in what I had written.

The comment was made by a person named Donna. Donna could be just about anyone. Many people on the Internet use pseudonyms as well as false pictures of themselves. For all I know Donna could actually be Rosie O’Donnell; Rosie could be angry with me for saying some bad things about her in one of my previous Blogs. On the other hand it could be one of my friends being mischievous. I don’t know and I really don’t care. At least the person took the time to post a comment.

The comment did, however, strike a chord within the windmills of my mind. There were two words that bothered me; they were Sexist and Misogynist. These are two words of very powerful meaning and shouldn’t be bantered about without careful thought.

In my life I’ve been called a lot of things that have ended with the suffix -IST. One of the definitions in Webster’s Unabridged is “one that adheres to or advocates a (specified) doctrine or system or code of behavior”.

Some of these terms that have been used to describe my demeanor or philosophy are true. But, I have never been called either a Sexist or a Misogynist. People that know and understand me, realize that it is just my warped sense of humor and my drunkenness that makes me say and write the things that I do.

I have said some terrible things during my lifetime and I have probably hurt people in the process. In most cases I was just being truthful and speaking my mind. I often do this without thinking of the ramifications involved. Often the truth is not pretty and it hurts others. My Dad always told me “make sure that you put your brain into gear before you run your mouth”. I’ve always had a problem with heeding this advice.

“Truthful words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not truthful.” - Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher.

As a writer, I strive for the truthful words rather than the beautiful words to speak my convictions. Therefore, I rarely use the beautiful words. Truthful words are words that will stand by themselves; they are the concepts and ideas that have been embedded on the psyche and have become part of our thinking process. They are honest heartfelt words that are not used in vain when spoken or written.

The Beach Bum