Thoughts from Baumann: Words

Soft jazz, cash register beeps. Slow paced people with open books. Books in hands, books on shelfs, book covers on the walls and coffees on the tables. The Barnes and Noble Cafe. My thoughts.

Outside the physical world bustles, while the worlds in here exist in the pages. In here the physical world slows, while the books bring us too a whole new world. We are in our heads. We fly with the birds in the sky, and swim with the fish in the sea. We roam with the beasts of land. We live the lives of heroes, and villains alike. We explore the problems of characters that have never existed. We ponder thoughts that we did not create. We delve into worlds that were created by others. We live lives that have page numbers. We see perspectives that our own limited world views cannot procure. We mingle in the confines of the minds of others.

The words. What are they?

Im sure if you were to open up a dictionary, you would find the definition of reading and writing. I was a communication disorders major. If I learned one thing, it is this; words are wind. They aren't what we are taught they are. They are sounds and symbols. The meaning of words comes from association. Before you were born, your name meant nothing. It was at best a theory of your existence. When you were born, your entire being became the definition of your name.

A language is a collection of sounds that a group of people associate similarly with. Your friends, your family, colleagues, co-workers. For them the definition of your name is you.
For the sake of this thought, I will stray away from the book of sound associations.

Reading-The act of entering the thought process, or mind of another human being through similarly associated symbols.

Writing- The art of portraying your thought process, or mind, in words, too be entered upon by reading similarly associated symbols.

True, you are not physically entering the mind of the writer when you read. As far as science will tell you, thats impossible.

Reading is as close to the reading of minds that we have. Writing is a projection of the mind on the world. The best authors have connected with countless people spanning countless generations. The best readers have connected with countless authors in countless generations.

Humans need this expression. Too bottle up, and not feel connected, it is emotional suicide. We need to relate to each other. We need to empathize with each other and feel validated.

My theory; This was the need for the creation of words. Emotional survival.

The greatest artists feel the most emotional pain. True? False? Im just thinking. I have thought wrong before. Tell me what you think. If innovation is the by product of the need for survival, is the greatest works of art, the greatest authors, poets, musicians, the by product of emotional survival?