The Six-Word Memoirs

One might argue that economy in writing necessarily causes meaning to be lost. However, Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser have shown that messages can be short on words while deep in meaning. Founders of the online magazine SMITH, they asked the world to send in six-word memoirs. ... Over 15,000 people responded to the challenge. Some notable examples posted on SMITH include these:

• "My second-grade teacher was right." - Janelle Brown
• "Secret of life: Marry an Italian." - Nora Ephron
• "Took scenic route, got in late." - Will Blythe
• "Became my mother. Please shoot me." - Cynthia Kaplan [April's note: LOL]
  
• "It's pretty high. You go first." - Alan Eagle

(From Managerial Communications by Geraldine Hynes)

If you had to write a six-word memoir, what would it be?

Jesus was an ineffective communicator

"...Do you ever think about what an ineffective communicator Jesus was? Think about it. He could have been speaking to 5,000 people every night. He could have been filling hills and shores and city squares constantly. Instead, he wasted his time at dinner with 12 people. Instead, he called individuals out of trees or chatted up one person at the well. And these weren’t powerful, influential people who could have dramatically helped his cause with their networks. He wasn’t connecting with “connectors.” These were sinners, tax collectors and fishermen. That seems counterintuitive to really building a platform. Why did he do it?

Because I think he knew how important relationships are. I think he knew that if you build a platform and when you stand on it no one really knows you, you’re alone. There might be a crowd of people around you, but if nobody knows you, that’s the worst kind of loneliness there is. I think he knew the value of a friendship."

~Jon Acuff

Lessons from a bike (part deux)

When one is riding one's bike in cottonwood shedding season and in gnat season, it is well to remember these words of wisdom that apply to all of life...

It is best to keep your mouth shut as much as possible.

(Told you I'd be posting these... ;-D)

Sweet summer

No price is set on the lavish summer
June may be had by the poorest comer.
~James Russell Lowell

Lessons from a bike

I'm biking to and from my summer college classes this year. At nearly 17 miles round-trip, this means there is a lot of time to think and, as I'm one of those annoying people who can find Significant Lessons in even the most basic of tasks, it is inevitable that I will think of some on my bike this summer. Consider yourself warned.

Here's the first one.

There are literally hundreds of miles of bike paths in Colorado. There are also, apparently, thousands of Serious Bikers in the state, too. To be a Serious Biker, you have to either own a bike that cost more than $500 or be willing to strut out in public in one of those fluorescent, leave-nothing-to-the-imagination biking outfits. (Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about.) At any time of day and in any kind of weather, if you're on a bike path, you can be sure to see solo Serious Bikers and packs of Serious Bikers. By my highly-scientific calculations, about 91.7% of the riders on bike paths are, in fact, Serious Bikers.

So here's the thing...when I'm scraping along (literally) on my $50 big-box-store bike (hey, if you were carrying a backpack whose weight amounts to 15% of your body weight, you'd be slow, too...don't judge), I'm kind of like a steeplechase hazard. Not really appreciated, but there nonetheless, and you have to get by me somehow. Just for the record, Serious Bikers, people like me exist, and we're not going away any time soon (at least not so long as biking is cheaper than filling a car with gold...er...gasoline).

So here's the good part...for the most part, the Serious Bikers are really nice to slowpokes like me. I have never been run off the road and here's the best part - when one of them is coming up behind you, they always give you a little call out, "On your left!" so you know not to make any sudden moves to the left, and everyone avoids a collision. They could yell, "Out of the way!" or perhaps the more polite but less descriptive, "Excuse me!" Or, of course, there's the military favorite, "Make a hole!" But no. In three little words, they let you know they're there, that they're about to pass you, and what side they're coming from.

And that's how it should be in life. (See, I told you I was all about the over-analysis and hyper-spiritualization.) Communicate. Be polite, but be clear and direct. Do not use ten words when three will do. And never run somebody off the road because you were silent when there should have been speech.

Twelve Apostles, Australia

I have been so blessed to visit many beautiful places around the world. Chantel's blog post today reminded me of one of them...the 12 Apostles along the Great Ocean Road in Australia.

Where I'm From Wednesday

Where I'm from, families display hundreds-of-years-old doll sets, which have been passed down through generations, every February in preparation for Girls' Day in March.