Naming a Thing

I have come to the conclusion that naming a thing perhaps lessens it's value. Particularly if your a woman. After all, it was Adam that was given the task in the very beginning, in the Garden of Eden.

Ironically, it's the woman who is said to have the greater command of language. Still, I think, the act of labeling a thing somehow presents too solid an image.

Words, to me, seem defiant. Perhaps even deviant, in some respect. And surely they are elusive. They are necessary tools of human communication, but in reality they are only symbols of a thing, rather than the thing itself.

I could say "Look, there is a lake." But what have I said? I might rather have pointed out the thousands of sparkling reflections of sunlight, or the splashing sounds of a log as it bounces on the surface. While a man possibly has envisioned a source of an evening's meal, or the elementary composition of liquids. He might say "No. This is too small. It is, rather, a pond." While I have thoughts of frogs perched on lilipads.

In calling it a lake, I have provided too narrow a definition. Then, again, perhaps too broad. I might more wisely have pointed out the sounds or the tiny splashes or twinkling reflections. I'd more wisely referred to the way in which the water sways or the scent of bedding trout in the air.

Now, I think I should refrain from calling it a lake again.

© Rachelle


Now... the song for today...

"Everything In Its Own Time"
The Indigo Girls




remember everything i told you
keep it in your heart like a stone
and when the winds have blown things round and back again
what was once your pain will be your home

all around the table the white haired men have gathered
spilling their sons' blood like table wine
(spilling their sons' blood)
remember everything i told you
everything in its own time

the music whispers you in urgency
hold fast to that languageless connection
a thread of known that was unknown and unseen seen
dangling from inside the fifth direction
(dangling from inside the fifth direction)

boys around the table are mapping out there strategies
kings all of mountains one day dust
a lesson learned a loving god and things in their own time
in nothing more do i trust

we own nothing
nothing is ours
not even love so fierce it burns like baby stars
but this poverty is our greatest gift
(nothing is ours)
the weightlessness of us as things around begin to shift
(the weightlessness as things begin to shift)

remember everything i told you
(remember everything i told you)
keep it in your heart like a stone
(keep it in your heart like a stone)
and when the winds have blown things round and back again
(when the winds have blown things round)
what was once your pain will be your home

everything in its own time
everything in its own time


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