Say More About That.

A post about trying to keep on one subject. A writing process that just keeps prompting you to “say more about that.” The idea of coherence or making something cohere. As opposed to ... the way minds flit so naturally and easily, even insistently and too often maddeningly from subject to subject. We are all too easily distracted. But is this a weakness or a strength? For example, I might want to write about what my dogs are doing right now. But that does not fit the idea of keeping on this post, which is about the benefits for ones writing of sustained coherence. Pursuing an idea in all its nuance and potential without knowing exactly where one might end up takes a particular kind of discipline more akin to faith than tenacity. Or perhaps faith is the application of tenacity to unknown outcomes. I suppose that’s why disciple and discipline share a common route. This rumination on coherence was prompted by the realization that often when I come up with an analogy or a metaphor for something, and I describe it to someone else they tend to respond with their own analogy, which, frankly,  isn’t quite as good. And this made me realize that the response “say more about that” offers the chance for an idea to be more fleshed out. If we practice giving others’ ideas the space and attention we practice a kind of generosity and faith.  This is what teaching should be like. Prompting ideas and then asking students to “say more about that.” Having the discipline, the generosity, the faith to stilt on point and see where we might end up.