Day 29


I was looking through my books...and I found a book called, "Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide To Better English In Plain English"....


I have a mini-project for myself to read it and really understand it. 


I consider myself as a person who is fairly capable of employing the English Language to communicate in a clear and effective manner.....but I would like to be better at it.


There are still some grammar questions I end up having, and I end up second-guessing myself on, over and over again.


For example: I may have just made about 1,000 grammatical errors in this blog entry alone. I hope I did not, but I cannot be positive that I did not make a grammatical error. I think it would be amazing to be confident that when I write, I'm not making grammatical errors. Especially since writing is such a BIG part of my life: I write in my blog, I write my novel, I text to my friends and family, I'll "post" something on facebook, I'll try to "tweet" every so often but I have no idea what I'm doing and I end up sounding like a great-grandma every single time, and I also write emails with clients, as well as speak with my co-workers and clients. I am constantly communicating....and I do not want to be a person who is saying the wrong thing, especially inadvertently.


I believe it is extremely important for people to really learn the language they are communicating with, and attempt to understand it's mechanics, so they can really say what they need to say and not have misunderstandings over silly things. Misunderstandings can lead to so many things that are not silly. They can lead to dangerous things.


SO, really, understanding and utilizing grammar in the correct way can help to make the world a better place, which, I think you may know, I am a huge proponent of. 


Making the world a better place is why I write anything.


It's always on the forefront of my mind: I want to do everything I can to make the world a better place, for my baby Corinne, for my friends and family, for strangers, for people who have no friends or family, for Corinne's babies and friends and family, and so on and so on and so on. For everybody.


I think that it is a reasonable thing to try and do as much good as you can in your day, for your family, your friends, yourself, and then when all that is accomplished, for others beyond that. That's why I try to do as good as I can in my day, getting all of my chores done and whatnot, and just being with my family....and then....after the baby is in bed (or when she's taking a nap, like right now) and I have a little bit of time and energy, I like to write, hopefully in a way that is clear, and hopefully in a way that makes people want to read. And then, when you read, I hope it's like we're having a conversation, and maybe you are saying to yourself something like, "I really do want to make the world a better place, too. And what can I do?" And then you have a conversation with yourself. Or something. Or you just say, "Oh, that was nice." Or something like that.


And then while you're sitting there talking to yourself I've gone and picked up my grammar book I found in my house, and I'm trying to understand how to construct the next few sentences I will say to you, in our next conversation. And then I'll go back to my laptop and fiddle with the syntax and imagery and diction and characterizations in the world I am busy creating within my novel, for you to see someday. 


I guess this was all just to say, I want to really be clear with the words I choose to use, in creating positive messages to the world at large. I think that is why grammar is so important, and I hope that the rules of grammar don't disintegrate as though acid rain has fallen all over them. 


I think it's up to us all, individually, to decide whether or not we want to be positive in this world, despite what challenges have been dealt to us. And, I think it is up to us whether or not we want to try to study up on things that are important to us, so that we can be full of knowledge, and strong, and ready to communicate exactly what we think about something that's going down, in a world that....well....needs a little bit of help. 


So...grammar. Can it save the world? It cannot hurt us. I think ignoring it will hurt us more.


What do you think?