Meaning as a Verb

Happy Monday Readers,

Question of the day is:

What does meaning MEAN?

What may first come to mind is to commit to something. I MEAN what I say, I’m not just speaking words to appease your ears. This is a common act when we interact with actions. I mean that I am going to show up for you. I mean that I am going to be patient this time around. This is what I usually think of when I put meaning in something.

The other type of meaning is a little more illusive. It’s the type of meaning that is intangible yet reasonates deeply in our souls. This moment is meaningful because I am feeling finally content. There is MEANING to me when I write a poem which words touch others.

But what separates these two definitions?

Today in the spirit of the start of a new week we’re going to reflect on what meaning is and how embodying meaning as a VERB can improve our outlook on insight in our meanings from NOUNs.

First off meaning as a noun.

Meaning as a noun is static state. I mean that I love you. At this point I mean that am being truthful in my love. You mean that I hurt you when I said those criticisms. Meaning as a noun is a momentary assertion from external or internal parties. Don’t equate the static definition with dismissal, because these static states will definitely be memorably passionate and explosive too. The real point being that they are just temporary moments. Emotions change, INTENTIONS change, and that is a part of their nature.

Now what I want to expose tonight is less about these static meanings as nouns. Because we are always moving through static moments. We write the stories of our lives in sentences build by these static definitions.

WHAT MOVES THESE NOUNS? The verbs.

Which in this case is our MEANING.

This meaning as a verb is an active, dynamic form which is defined differently depending on our personal dictionaries. Meaning as a verb is how we carry and reflect these static nouns built around them.

Meaning as a verb is what we often skip over in our routines because we are looking for the subject. Who cares about why, what do we mean? Is a common criticism we will hear as young writers. That is because this society teaches us to underline and highlight is our important outputs. But as any English teacher would redline, any continuous string of nouns is a rather disjoined run on sentence confusing for any reader to understand.

So what do I mean??

Similar to ourselves, when we live our life story written only in these static noun moments, we are undermine our own dynamic action. What holds meaning for us is what we live between those static noun moments. We may mean to be patient because we are increasingly finding meaning in being a person of strong moral character. We might mean our diligence in fact checking our work because you are finding meaning in your ability to be a dependable team member.

I fear I am confusing myself with all of these grammar metaphors but I promise I am getting to my point soon...

Meaning as a verb is the reflection of actions which propels our momentary action.

Where we find meaning in life is where we often find such difficult sleepless nights. Why am I doing all these tasks? Or putting up with such momentary efforts? This is where you must note you are looking in the wrong places.

You will not escalate action from nouns that are only ever meant to be static. You will not derive meaning from moments which are only meant to be temporary.

Meaning comes from the CONNECTION POINTS between the moments. When you are feeling lost in your ‘why’ for it all, reframe our societal expectations and forget about the subject. Look at the VOICE behind the story. Are they excited and energized because this is the feeling exerted from those actions, or are they sad and depressed because the actions are not at all reasonating.

This is our meaning as a verb.

And finding it can reframe the possibilities for our paths for years to come. Because looking at how we can find meaning from our connections instead of our moments is how we can begin building meaning when we feel as though we are lacking. Or how we can strengthen connection to moments we might be unsure how to string together.

A journaling prompt we can use to demonstrate this structure is to write our current story with these static nouns and dynamic verbs.

List 5 current static intention statements

1. I mean that I am working out every day.

2. I mean that I want to be someone with a desired niche at work.

3. I mean that I want to be knowledgeable and confident  in what I present to others.

4. I mean that I want to write everyday.

5. I mean that I can be a writer full time.

Now that we have some static intentions how can we connect them with dynamic meaning?

Connect 1 and 2:

There’s meaning when I am a dependable person

Connect 2 and 3:

There’s meaning when I put effort into longterm learning.

Connect 3 and 4:

There’s meaning when I can be confident in my own ideas.

Connect 4 and 5:

There’s meaning when I spend a majority of my time creating with words.

Now list 2 connections between them all:

There’s meaning when I become what I’ve always longed for.

There’s meaning when others can learn from me.

And there you go you have found the dynamic meaning which is closer to your real heart than the tangible worldly outputs.

You don’t get meaning from moments.

You make meaning from moments.

How’s that for a mind bender ;)

Until next times readers