Better Definitions

We do ourselves a great disservice, relying on Merriam and Oxford for our standardized definitions of the words. Words are the things we spend our lives trying to define for ourselves, but we imagine that there is an objective meaning that leads us to accept the “standard” definition too often. Meaning, for instance. What does it mean? Well, there’s a dictionary that could tell you that it’s the thing one intends to convey. But what does it mean for you? Maybe it’s a sunset, or a cup of coffee at just the right time with just the right person, or your puppy looking you right in the eyes. It’s nice to understand what meaning might mean when we use it in a general sense, but it means that we don’t put enough energy into defining our words for ourselves. Happy, life, death, human, work, play, satisfaction. All words with mildly satisfying definitions, for the masses. But what they mean to oneself, or if they are important enough to have a personal definition, that’s where there’s more work to do. Maybe when Ray Dalio talks about principles, what he really means is the key definitions. The words that are important that that you’ve taken the time to articulate a point-in-time view of. And then update. It’s a way to get life to have more definition, higher levels of pixels per minute or per square area, or however you measure the meatiness of your life. Constituent, customer, employee, boss, leader, manager. So many work terms that go unnoticed in language, flying off the tongue to articulate some second-hand idea. Understandable. We have to manufacture words out of our vocal chords or keyboards to keep the plot and connections and income rolling along. I haven’t considered carefully ever single word above and their definitions. But that’s because I’m very focused on “definitions”; trying to create a little bit more definition around definition. It feels like a brick in the road to clarity. If clarity is an appropriate goal. Makes one wonder, what does clarity mean? To be able to see without blur? Or to experience a moment of comprehension-transcendence, where the moment explodes into the beautiful understanding that uncovers a nobler truth than was previously known? And what about goal? Some sort of target to hit with an arrow or a spreadsheet? Or an orientation, a posture, a value – a thing generally pursued without expectation of arrival, but with the expectation of progress. So progression toward more moments of clarity. Maybe that’s the definition of what I’m doing right now. It’s hard to tell without getting into the definitions of now, I, and doing.