Caution. Entering Original Thought Zone
I kept thinking about the Original Thought Zone as I explored the comments feature on my Kindle. I had been plugging away, reading poems (some sinking in deeper than others), and doing a little bit of highlighting when I decided to see what other people thought about the book "100 Best Loved Poems." And what did I find?
Not a single original thought anywhere!
The only comments made were just quotes from the poems in the book. At first I was disappointed. I decided that all these people should have grown up in homes with an "Original Thought Zone." But I think these comments exemplify exactly what we have been discussing in our class: that we use poetry as a way to express things that we just don't have the capability to express on our own.
I think when we do that we come to "own" those inexpressible experiences and feelings more. They become ours. These people had powerful experiences with these lines and they felt like they needed to repeat them so that they could make them apart of themselves, so that they could be "theirs."
Along with sharing a line from the poem "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman I also decided though that I would add a comment of my own! Here are the lines that grabbed me:
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work,
or of the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else."
My comment ties into what I was saying earlier about possession. I said:
"No matter what our place in life is, it is ours. It may seem dull or meaningless to someone else, but it belongs to us. And that matters."
What a genius idea of an "Original Thought Zone"! I find myself quoting movies much too often. Ha ha. I love your way of taking something that you thought was negative and turning it into something positive. I've thought the same thing countless times when people post words that aren't their own, but it's really so true that sometimes another's words just hit the spot! Great post.
ReplyDeleteI love love love the idea of the Original Thought Zone. I've known those people who only make jokes that are actually repeats from movies and TV shows. I appreciated your thoughts! Like we discussed in class, sometimes those song lyrics or words of poetry just perfectly express what we are trying to say. Amen!
ReplyDeleteA great post, bringing out both the apparent problem (of just recycling others' stuff) and the opportunity (of "owning" it by commenting/sharing)
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