Digressions - with a few little distractions

in #dropintheocean6 years ago (edited)

In times of great hardship and struggle, we often find ourselves in that familiar place where we are forced to look within for answers and wisdom all the while swimming in emotions and thoughts we can find very uncomfortable and sometimes foreign.

I have never been afraid of my inner terrain (it's great material for morbidly deep poetry and insight), however, it can be a bit confusing and exhaustive to juggle the inner and outer worlds simultaneously.

Inside world looks like some sort of epic drama with violin sonatas included! Mine, however, probably more resembles a dramedy with my outside view of the world looking like some sort of over-rated reality show with irritating, distracting commercial breaks every 5 minutes.

In-between the clashing of these two worlds, torches of love and support come held by loved ones and friends to help guide us through this forest of uncertainty and uncomfortable-ness and we begin to recognize how precious each moment is. How precious silence is. How precious a touch..a word..eye contact is.

You realize that you are now living 'in the moment' - outside of time. You are aware that you are fully present in something outside of your inner or outer terrain, outside of your own body and mind.

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It's gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-Shiny day....~Johnny Nash

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The preceding mind-dumping of deep thoughts is an example of digression.

To be honest, prior to this post, I think my understanding of digression was slightly confused with 'distraction'.

So, what is the difference between digression and distraction?

Digression:
It can be used in various ways to give speech or writing an added bit of background, texture or umph to draw the reader in. You might even stretch the use of digression as a means of expressing the imagination and creativity by way of developing a sense for different possibilities in a topic or finding its juxtapositions, oddities in relation to different elements - its a paint brush and your playing with ideas!

So is a digression necessary? No. But.......

“Digression is the soul of wit. Take the philosophic asides away from Dante, Milton or Hamlet's father's ghost and what stays is dry bones.” ~ Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

You can also use digression to add research like science, history, art, or medical knowledge

A couple examples:

  • How much dirt is there in a hole 3 feet deep, 6 feet long, and 4 feet wide? (That is when Dirt realised his namesake was quite ironic, he just loved digging holes though, odd for a 600 pound man.) Source

  • The Spunkee Monkee had a great day building up life lessons and experiences. (Kids and parents set up FAMILY ACCOUNTS on Steemit, then kids begin earning points to earn online treasure, while simultaneously gaining LIFETIME treasure!) Source

BAHAHA! I'm distracted - doesn't take much!

Where was I? Oh yeah.....DIGRESSION!

I'll just leave you with the etymology of the word 'Digression':

The term "digression" comes from the Latin word digressio: "a going away, departing," noun of action from past participle stem of digredi "to deviate", from dis- "apart, aside" + gradi "to step, go". Source

Distraction:

Who's ready for the holidays?!

- Feel free to digress to your heart's content in the comments below - I always enjoy reading your thoughts and ideas.

- Distractions are welcome, too! ;)

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Props:

1st photo: Modified Source

2nd photo: by youhavewings

3rd Gif: Source

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@youhavewings this was awesome! I can't stand the cheery holiday season with all the lights and joyful holiday music it drives me absolutely batty!!

Dashing through the No!!! Thats exactly how I feel!! Hahaha so glad I'm not alone in this!!

Thank you @monchhichi23!

I actually love the 'spirit' of the holidays (family/friends)- just not all the commercialism, traffic and craziness :)

So funny about the holiday music! I have a hilarious dental visit story on that topic (Nitrous gas and Holiday music don't mix well LOL) - let's just say the music was turned off for the rest of my visit.

I don't have a problem with the spirit of Christmas but yes the commercialism, and such as you mentioned but also... my family just sucked and so the holidays are just a bad time all around. I have a family of my own now and I've kinda groomed them to be understanding of my horrible ways lol

But I do love giving and surprising my loves with things they didn't know they would love but totally do hehehe

I can not wait to hear this dental story of yours. I was actually a dental assistant after I quit college and really enjoyed playing in peoples mouths and would use the gas after work sometimes ... shhhh don't tell anyone lol... and I can't imagine the gas and christmas music... must have been torture omg!! Hahaha

Hey - we are in the same dysfunctional extended family boat - and then we've lost so many family members these last few years. I understand completely! I'm determined this year to clear away the cobwebs and just enjoy the season - maybe burn a little sage ;) hehe

Yes, giving is my favorite part, too.

I can not wait to hear this dental story of yours. I was actually a dental assistant after I quit college and really enjoyed playing in peoples mouths and would use the gas after work sometimes ... shhhh don't tell anyone lol... and I can't imagine the gas and christmas music... must have been torture omg!! Hahaha

Soooooo funny about hitting the gas! ahahaha! I've got so many funny stories with the gas - so many....I've actually turned it up when the assistant left the room (I paid dearly for that one, but....) LOL

Story that I was referring to: It was right after my dog Bella passed so I was already ripe for being unhinged. The hygienist and I had a love/hate relationship - my teeth were super sensitive requiring a mouth full of shots and then gas on top of that and she was a little impatient and unhinged herself after many failed attempts and time constraints ;) There she is in my face, "Are we ready now?" Her big artificial smile waiting for my response, "mmmhmmm" I gesture. She whips that hose in my mouth so fast, water flying everywhere, tools in and out like crochet needles. My mind starts going off into wild 'digressions' and spontaneous diatribes - "DANGER, DANGER...red alert! Am I breathing? I think I've stopped breathing! What if I die...I could die!" Then it happened....the song, "I'll Be Home For Christmas" came on and I completely lost it - there was no holding it back! My little pink piggy nose just couldn't contain my blast of heavy breathing and the seal broke letting out farting sounds and gurgling. She quickly removed her weapons from my mouth, "Is everything okay?" I pulled my piggy nose off....my face feeling like it is triple the size with my mouth flopping with no discernible phonetical meaning..."ubb, ubb...turnn dat chit obb!" She is shocked and locked in a stare with me as she wheels her chair away..."Oh....oh - You know what, that shit's getting on my nerves, too!" She yells, "Emily! Can you turn the music off?" There is some confusion coming from Emily. "Can you turn the music off?!" Emily is not understanding. "TURN THE MUSIC OFF! All of it." Emily turns the music off and the hygienist returns to her sweet, over sappy voice, "Thank-eww". She pulls her chair close to me again, "Better?" I shake my head and lay back in the chair as she puts my piggy nose back on. "Comfortable?"

The hygienist and I actually laugh about this day all the time :) And I no longer require the gas or shots so our relationship has much improved! haha

Oh my gosh this story is gold!!

Thank you so much for sharing that! I have high anxiety with the dentist... just too many bad experiences. I believe I may have had a similar reaction had I been in your shoes!

I mean really... its nerve wracking enough to have to go to the dentist ... why torture you with a station that has even a small chance of playing christmas music? I'm good with quiet!! Haha

I'm sorry to hear about Bella, I completely understand the state of mind you were in... but you handled it like a champ and now have an awesome story to tell!

Hehe! I can't believe I shared that publicly! I know better than to write when it is late at night. It is funny though....now.

Music definitely intensifies the gas experience. No doubt. I have anxiety with the dentist, too. I don't know anyone that doesn't - especially the older you get. And it's so difficult to find 'good' dentists. I'll be glad when science progresses to the point that we can grow new teeth ;)

Thank you, @monchhichi23 I have healed considerably since Bella's passing.

A lovely meander into the meaning of digression and its etymology. I enjoyed the imagery created by your paintbrush and reading your playfulness with ideas around the topic.

Look forward to hearing more of your ideas later on.

Thank you so much @juliamulcahy! I always enjoy your comments and thoughts - you're such a fluid and wise writer.

Takes one to know one - so they say.

You have a beautiful style and I enjoy looking in through the window you open with your words. xxx

Fluid that is the word. :)

A great example of digression, with a very intriguing brian-dump. Felt a bit like a dramatic... dramedy monologue, the character on stage steps aside to change their voice and add a bit of backstory in song, the people rise up from their seats in silence moved by the climatic vibrato otherwise missing from the main deliverance, not boring but sterner this break has been welcomed. I digress but unfortunately time has caught up with me...

!gifbot squirrel

Thank you, Pen! Mind-dumping is fun and satisfying. It would have been fun to see where this would have fully developed and I love your imagination with the theater. I was kinda going there.....

but then 'squirrel' happened LOL

What a cool bot! Will I get the same squirrel? I want to play! Such a hilarious gif! LOL They are so funny.

!gifbot squirrel avocado

You have such an amazing sense of humor. The squirrel just said it all.
Ren

Hi there, @xcountytravelers;

I'm so glad that you can relate to my humor. Now that I think of it, you have similar humor!

I've been so stuck in the mud these last few weeks that I've been noticing my writing taking a turn in that direction, too - so I wanted to lighten things up or at least have some 'balance'.

I'm glad you did. We can get into funks sometimes.
Ren

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Hm, its too much philosophy :)
Sometimes i feel that, the most of people make the problems themself, for example, with this kind of deep thinking.

I mean, its good, and the life is more than work, eat, sex, die, but sometimes the things looks difficult. But the things arent difficult. We make it, with our decisions, good, or bad.

And we dont listen to the squirrels. Why is so important a squirrel? This little animal can really, really appreciate, what it have.
No blaming the past, not fud about future, only the present. And the nuts.
If it be nuts, be everything, and the squirrels feel the most epic happiness all around the world.

We have so much things and stuffs and possibilities.
Maybe its time to learn something from the squirrels.

Nice post my friend....

Howdy there youhavewings! what an entertaining post! This is a fun one even though you got distracted. Or were you digressing? lol. Wonderful to know the precise meaning of a useful technique.
Great images too!