Feathers and Words

In the movie Doubt, the priest tells the story of how he told a parishioner to open a pillow up to let the all the feathers blow into the wind. And when the pillowcase was empty, he then told the parishioner to collect all the feathers. And the parishioner told the priest that she could never retrieve all the feathers---they had scattered too far. And the priest said that is what happens when you release your words---they scatter and change the landscape.

I am very cognizant of this when I write. I understand fully that my thoughts, once read, touch people---and whether they laugh or shake their head in agreement or not, they are forever changed. Words count. A bell cannot be un-rung.

Yet the inability to un-ring a bell does not presuppose malevolence.  Because there are all kinds of bells—church bells, wedding bells, fire bells, school bells and liberty bells. Bells are important. Bells are designed to provide information. They allow people to pause—and plan a direction.

I use allegory to transduce my experiences---good or bad – funny or not--into meaning. And while I would like to think I write purely for myself---that isn’t 100% true. Sometimes I write for my audience—I write in the hopes that my words may affect change. I write so that an unretrieved feather might arrive at a destination better than the status quo. I write in the hope that my words prompt improvement---even if the improvement is a mere giggle for the day.

So. Until I run out of thoughts to convey I will continue opening pillowcases. Because the  answer to the question Does a feather caress or irritate?  is that that is the choice of the feather’s recipient---- not the person who set the feather free. The benevolence or malevolence of words depends on how we choose to internalize them.