The title of this blog is an oxymoron, "Precise Ramblings". We come across oxymorons all the time, and may not even notice them, and / or take them for granted as part of everyday language, ordinary. Well, they are and they are not.
Original copy... pretty ugly... minor issues... clearly misunderstood.... crash landing .... found missing .... old news .... open secret... random order!
The first time I came across the idea of an oxymoron was sometime in my 7th or 8th grade, and it fascinated me no end. I don't remember the actual oxymoron, however I remember the sense of sudden joy and the burst of feeling every time I encountered an oxymoron or came up with one myself. I still carry that feeling.
At the time, it was explained to us in our English class as a phrase that has two opposite or contradictory statements put together, which gives insightful and / or humourous and / or ironic meaning. Yes, oxymorons lend themselves to a clever turn in language, and leave us with a laugh or a gleam. However, why should that clever turn in language give the reader his or her keen response? What quality in those words evokes its usual responses? The turn is not one of language alone.
The oxymoron is not simply a phrase or a word that ends when the word ends on the page. It is an ongoing phenomenon. The point of an oxymoron is simultaneity. It is only by holding together two seemingly contradictory truths, at the same time, the third truth is constantly discovered.
To give an example,
one way in which Ahimsa is defined is "to know one's limits", however, one needs to constantly test those limits to actually know them. Therein lies the paradox of Ahimsa. The writer-philosopher, Chaturvedi Badrinath says of this: "the paradox of limits, which consists in the fact that one becomes aware of one's limits only by transgressing them; there is no known way by which one can know one's limits in advance." Which for me means that the oxymoron is a constant process and discovery. Like life. It cannot be a stinking, one-point stagnation. We can of course in our limitation think, believe and act like it is so, while life itself is a constant affirmation of its flow. It is a flow of simultaneously holding two seemingly contradictory movements, and in seeing them together, at the same time, the third, deeper and larger truth can be held.
A simultaneous holding and being in that space of tension between the two, and finding the truth therein. How can some words strung together be precise and ramble at the same time? What are those truths when discussed allow my words the freedom and flexibility to meander and twist and turn and yet stay constant and focused? Why is it important for me to be precise and ramble at the same time? When do those A-ha! moments* occur, holding both together and creating art? The space and journey of this oxymoron, Precise Ramblings.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
* Many thanks to one of my teachers, Sashi Anant, for this bang-on phrase, "A-ha moment"
Original copy... pretty ugly... minor issues... clearly misunderstood.... crash landing .... found missing .... old news .... open secret... random order!
The first time I came across the idea of an oxymoron was sometime in my 7th or 8th grade, and it fascinated me no end. I don't remember the actual oxymoron, however I remember the sense of sudden joy and the burst of feeling every time I encountered an oxymoron or came up with one myself. I still carry that feeling.
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| Image from soulspartan.com |
The oxymoron is not simply a phrase or a word that ends when the word ends on the page. It is an ongoing phenomenon. The point of an oxymoron is simultaneity. It is only by holding together two seemingly contradictory truths, at the same time, the third truth is constantly discovered.
To give an example,
one way in which Ahimsa is defined is "to know one's limits", however, one needs to constantly test those limits to actually know them. Therein lies the paradox of Ahimsa. The writer-philosopher, Chaturvedi Badrinath says of this: "the paradox of limits, which consists in the fact that one becomes aware of one's limits only by transgressing them; there is no known way by which one can know one's limits in advance." Which for me means that the oxymoron is a constant process and discovery. Like life. It cannot be a stinking, one-point stagnation. We can of course in our limitation think, believe and act like it is so, while life itself is a constant affirmation of its flow. It is a flow of simultaneously holding two seemingly contradictory movements, and in seeing them together, at the same time, the third, deeper and larger truth can be held.
A simultaneous holding and being in that space of tension between the two, and finding the truth therein. How can some words strung together be precise and ramble at the same time? What are those truths when discussed allow my words the freedom and flexibility to meander and twist and turn and yet stay constant and focused? Why is it important for me to be precise and ramble at the same time? When do those A-ha! moments* occur, holding both together and creating art? The space and journey of this oxymoron, Precise Ramblings.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
* Many thanks to one of my teachers, Sashi Anant, for this bang-on phrase, "A-ha moment"
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