Forget the noun, do the verb!
As most of you already know about me… I love playing with words. And this post is fun for me!
The difference comes down to whether a person thinks of themselves as a verb or a noun: are you defined by what you do or are you defined by what you are?
As a parent I can remember wishing for my youngsters to become ‘nouns’ -readers, teachers, writers, entrepreneurs. And I often forgot that they too, like me, were always evolving, always works-in-progress. The joy was often in whatever they were ‘doing’ – like dancing, painting, and sometimes just doing ‘nothing.’
Are you a writer (noun) or do you write (verb)? Many folks seem to think that you first call yourself a writer and then you can start writing. No, no, no. You do the stuff first, and then you can worry about what it is and who you are.
Even having defined myself as a noun such as teacher, entrepreneur, real estate agent, I remind myself that the growing, learning, and pursuing were really the verbs that made my life fulfilling.
And just as I am not a noun, neither is life! It is really “living”, not life. It is not love, it is loving. It is not a song, it is singing. It is not a dance, it is dancing. See the difference. Savor the difference.
P.S. And of course you may remember my February 28 post of this year, “Be-Do-Have?” where I said that we need to be before we can do and do before we can have… Consistency is not my forte and as Emerson said:
3 Comments
OK, Pat, now you have done it!
Wow, I didn’t realize how wrong it was that for more than four decades I was a teacher. Instead, I should have been teaching? Oh, wait, I was teaching. Where did I go wrong?
And now I consider myself a learner for life, but should I be learning? I guess I am learning.
What about those poor nouns? Are they going to have to start nouning? Or will they be told they need to be verbing? It looks as though they’re going to have to be learning also. I hope they don’t get as confused as I am.
Now just because of what I’ve written above, I hope no one calls me a teaser, because after all, I am only teasing. Whatever!
Russ, love your comments! Even though I am easily confused, you make it all fun!
Your postscript made me laugh! Of course, I’m also from that same family that can hold opposing views simultaneously without going crazy. Both views are true, in slightly different contexts.