Friday, February 21, 2014

What's wrong with "wrong"?

This weekend is my sister's Big Five-Oh celebration, at Daddy's house in Florida.  We all had a lovely visit last night, went to bed at a reasonable-ish hour, and then this morning, fairly early, I had a pleasant catch-up with Cheryl.  One of the things we talked about was this blog, and my use of the word "wrong" as a descriptor for the East Coast.

Everyone who knows me knows that "home" is Los Angeles.  All of my West Coast friends are happy that our plans are to get "home" by mid-2014.  All of the friends I have made through my job at Trader Joe's are happy about those plans.  Each member of my family, no matter how "close" or "distant," is either happy or neutral about these plans.  We have the positivity of our entire circle of circles of friends and family, all helping "drive" us back home.

And one of the things I mentioned to Cheryl was that I am the most upbeat/optimistic/positive person I know.  She agreed, but she pointed out that I may be sabotaging myself by using the word "wrong" - that "wrong" is a HARD word; it's negative no matter what it's attached to.  And there's also the possibility that I'm hurting my friends or family that I will be leaving behind.  These are points that hadn't entered my POV.  So I said I'd re-read my posts with that POV in mind.  She said I didn't need to re-read the blog, but to keep that idea in mind going forward.

I read through to the end of December 2013 (so I only didn't venture into the past two months of posts).  What I "gained" from revisiting those posts was that I am pretty positive, even in my "negative" posts ("My Stint in Juvie" comes to mind).  I know without going further that I have used the phrase "wrong coast" more and more often as we get closer to our move.

So this post is an apology to anyone who has A LIFE - who has CHOSEN North or South Carolina or Florida or any other East Coast HOME in which to make their lives.  I applaud EVERYONE who is able to find their HOME and to make their LIFE wherever they manage to find and choose and make it.  I know that you are all, wherever you are physically, applauding and cheering and sending the positive vibes to US so that we can/will/do/ARE getting back HOME.  I appreciate that your energy is contributing to our energy.

But that leads me to the title: what's wrong with "wrong" and is there any chance that you can provide me with a BETTER, more positive wording to describe the fact that my CURRENT situation is not my PERMANENT one, and that my chosen industry and life exist on the West Coast?  I have not ever intended to hurt you or disrespect your choices or make you feel bad for where you live.  I also want to always be positive.  So what can I start saying that hits all the good stuff and avoids all the bad stuff?

2 comments:

  1. What if you forego labeling coasts at all, and just say that you are on your way home? Period. Full stop. That way you are only putting the positive thought of moving forward to your goal, which has the positive ideations associated with the word "home" already. Just eliminate the verbiage of the label "wrong" altogether, right?

    Or am I too hopped up eucalyptus oil to make sense right now?

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