Catching Idle Butterflies

Red and Yellow Polka-Dotted Eyeballs

Someone call a doctor, because I discovered a new disease and I’m suffering from it! Please tell me there’s a cure!!

I have “Red and Yellow Polka-Dotted Eyeball Syndrome.”

I know what you’re thinking: “Huh?”

Stay with me. I promise it’ll make sense in a minute. It’s also not contagious, but unfortunately everyone gets it time and again. It’s not life-threatening, but it can wreck a bit of havoc at times.

I discovered this syndrome yesterday after receiving a comment from Nada in my entry "Spiritual Booster Shot" . A bit confused and even a little upset after reading it, I wrote her back for clarification.

Two minutes later I saw the spots. Floating in my vision were these little red and yellow dots. I paid closer attention to what those little dots were doing and how the heck did they get on my eyeballs?!

I then had my Aha! moment. My mood caused those dots. I didn’t realize until then I was a bit tired, perhaps even a little grumpy. Because of that, the dots appeared and blinded me to Nada ’s words except those that my grumpy-tiredness wanted to see.

I reread her comment through those annoying little dots. I understood then I had no reason to be confused or upset, so I emailed her back asking her to ignore my previous email. I said I was in a “Let’s read what isn’t there” kind of a mood, and that I knew she didn’t remotely mean what I first inferred.

The dots didn’t disappear entirely. They’re stubborn, let me tell ya! I imagine they’ll appear again when I’m grumpy, sad, angry, or whatever. However, now that I know what causes them, and what they do to my vision, I can hopefully not let them influence my reaction to what other people write. Well, at least not without reading it more than once, and consider the source (that’s important), before I react.

I’ve found also with the variety of comments, people respond to my entries based on their mood as well. If I write a serious entry, but the reader is in a fabulously happy mood they may respond with a bit of humor. On the flipside, I may attempt a light-hearted entry, and a reader not so happy will focus on a serious aspect of it.

For example, in my entry "Take it back . . . I don't want it!"  my intended focus was how God expects us to work as we wait for answered prayers, and not to expect God to do everything for us with no effort on our part. I used an analogy of a friend drowning provided by Thomas . Several people focused on the friend drowning instead. One agreed we need to help friends in need, and someone else made the point that we sometimes need to take a step back and let that friend learn how to swim.

Please note I’m not complaining. Having people see my words in a way I never intended is part of the reason I blog. I love knowing how people see my words, because it highlights another side of my writing I never would have seen before. It also helps me to focus my writing better, especially if I want to make a very specific point. I don’t always succeed, because I’m still improving as a writer, and everyone has their own polka-dotted eyeballs to contend with, not just me.

Makes for an interesting mix, don’t you think? That’s another reason why I love your comments; I never know the reaction I’m gonna get.

Change of subject.

I realized yesterday I made a serious boo-boo. I had forgotten Voxxylady had started a brand new blog on the 1st of January . If you haven't yet, check out her new one:

Seeking Elora  (13+) An indie novelist muses about writing, society, and the arts. #1197828 by Voxxylady

It's just as insightful, well-written and interesting as her first one.

Sorry, Voxxygirl .