I cannot assume you will understand me. It is just as likely that as I invent what I want to say, you will invent what you want to hear. Some story we must have. Stray words on crumpled paper. A weak signal into the outer space of each other. The probability of seperate worlds meeting is very small. The lure is immense. We send starships. We fall in love
Interpretation
Communication between people can often be misunderstood, as we each interpret messages in our own ways.
This quote by Jeanette Winterson highlights the complexities of human communication and the inherent difficulties in truly understanding one another. It suggests that when we express ourselves, we are forming our own narratives, while the listener interprets these messages through their personal lens. The idea of 'separate worlds' emphasizes the challenge in achieving genuine connection, even though we are drawn to each other emotionally. The imagery of 'stray words on crumpled paper' and 'starships' illustrates the fragility and ambition of our attempts to reach one another in love and understanding.
In practice
This quote could be used at a seminar about effective communication in relationships.
What is remembered is not a deed in stone but a metaphor. Meta = above. Pheren = to carry. That which is carried above the literalness of life. A way of thinking that avoids the problems of gravity. The word won't let me down. The single word that can release me from all that unuttered weight.
Reading things that are relevant to the facts of your life is of limited value. The facts are, after all, only the facts, and the yearning passionate part of you will not be met there. That is why reading ourselves as a fiction as well as fact is so liberating. The wider we read the freer we become.
I have a list of titles that I leave at the [library] desk, because they are bound to be written some day, and it's best to be ahead of the queue.
Woolf wanted to say dangerous things in Orlando but she did not want to say them in the missionary position.
In that house, you will find my heart. You must break in, Henri, and get it back for me.' Was she mad? We had been talking figuratively. Her heart was in her body like mine. I tried to explain this to her, but she took my hand and put it against her chest. Feel for yourself.
History is a string full of knots, the best you can do is admire it, and maybe tie it up a bit more. History is a hammock for swinging and a game for playing.
I am an American citizen and feel I am entitled to the same rights as any other citizen.
To complain that I could only be married once was like complaining that I had only been born once.
I’m not used to girls, or familiar with their customs. I feel awkward around them, I don’t know what to say. I know the unspoken rules of boys, but with girls I sense that I am always on the verge of some unforeseen, calamitous blunder.
The same chemicals were used in the cooking as were used on the composition of her own being: only those which caused the most violent reaction, contradiction, and teasing, the refusal to answer questions but the love of putting them, and all the strong spices of human relationship which bore a relation to black pepper, paprika, soybean sauce, ketchup and red peppers.
The young girls of color that first encountered the 'me too' movement in community centers and classrooms and church basements were there not only because they needed a safe space, but because they needed their own space.
Every relationship has tough days. Don't let the grudge last. Be the first to try to make things right and stop waiting for an apology.
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