MUSIC: R.E.M.
I know I have to get myself back into the discipline of writing (especially blog posts) on a more regular basis. But as I said in my last post, I have a lot of projects coming together at once. And for the most part I am a “crew of one”. But I do not want to go any farther on that point.
Last weekend, I went on a Ghost Hunt. It was a really cool experience. And “Yes” I did see things. I am still reviewing my photos of the event so I may have more about it later. But I want to talk about something else. It is about how people react to what I am up to. I am trying to grow as a writer. I am trying to write characters that seem real. So I listen to not only what people say but how they say it. And it is all in the phrasing. So this is what I have noticed over the last few weeks. This example relates back to my Ghost Hunt experience. Whenever I told people (the few) what I was about to do. This is what I heard almost 100% of the time. “Why would you want to do that?” Take a good look at the phrasing of the question. Here is what I have come to realize about the phrasing of that question. It is a negative response. It shows a person who is most likely not willing to accept whatever is going on. But what phrasing would make the question a positive inquiry? It goes like this “Why are you doing that?” Can you see or read the difference between the two? The first is a person is seeing the world through his own filters. The second is a person trying to understand your filters.
This is what I have learned about people from my experiences. If a person cannot “accept” whatever you are doing until they “understand” what you are doing is a person who will “roadblock” you more often than not. A person who is willing to give some to “benefit of doubt” to you as you are doing your thing is exercising some “faith” in you. Is not the basis of “faith”? Is that not the base for “acceptance” based in “faith” which is not necessarily based on a complete “understanding”?
It is not just what people are saying. It is also how they are saying it.
And by the way. Why did I want to do the Ghost Hunt? Why not? It was something different to try.
