Lines, lines, everywhere a line

Aside from the Five Man Electrical Band (Signs) reference, this seems to be our byword today, doesn’t it?  I don’t know about you, but I’ve probably spent as much time waiting in lines over in the last month as I normally do in an entire year. 

See the source image

Lines have so many other contexts, though, don’t they?

Lines of communication

Of demarcation

Staying within the lines

Stepping over the line

Lines of safety

Making a beeline

There are probably more – which just aren’t coming to my mind at this instant.  Some have simply never made sense to me – like “making a beeline”.  I’m not sure what bees you’ve seen flying in a straight, speedy lines, but the ones I’ve observed have a greater tendency to meander.  This one, in my mind, fails to match its description.

See the source image

Lines, as most things, have good points and bad ones.  Lines of communication are good – when they’re open.  Or, they should be. There’s always that communication which we wish was less open, isn’t there?  Lines of demarcation just sounds like a fight by its very description – which of course, it can be in a sense.  But perhaps these are also simply a means of setting boundaries.

Staying within the lines – didn’t we all learn about this when we got our first crayons?  Some did, or tried hard.  Others defiantly went outside of them, whether to make a point or simply to get attention.  The same behaviour applies in life – some stay within the lines, and follow the rules.  Others do so to a lesser degree, and as with the colouring book, some defiantly step over – or through – those lines and break all the rules.

See the source image

Stepping over the line isn’t always an act focused on the negative side of defiance, though.  Sometimes, it’s taking a stand.  Sometimes the lines are wrong.  Sometimes, the lines of safety in fact confine us to a perceived place that’s “safe”, but for whom?

I’ve come to the conclusion that lines have value – or a lack thereof – in how we use them, much like the signs in the song.  Right now, the lines in our supermarkets, banks, and elsewhere aim to keep us safe. 

How will you use lines today – lines of communication, lines of safety, or simply line-ups – to make a positive difference?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In the Fall

Image
  Have you ever had one of those serious “ah ha” moments?  While I’ve had a few, I would say that on a dramatic scale, September 28 th was far and above the winner in this. It started out like any other day – it completely changed me.   You see, I fell three steps from a ladder.   Doesn’t sound like much, does it?   Three steps, that’s barely a stumble.   But the people who say “it’s not the fall, it’s the landing – well, they’re right”.   It was definitely the landing that did me in.   One minute I was on the third step of a stepladder in a client’s house, peering into the attic.   The next thing I remember is being on the floor, and looking down at my right foot.   It wasn’t at the end of my leg where it was supposed to be.   It was beside my ankle.   Trust me, that’s not a good place for a foot to be, and as I looked at it, I started to realize that it hurt.   A lot.   I laid back down, bent my left knee, a...
Read more

Pride and the Bad Rap

Image
Pride has such a bad rap, doesn’t it?  In the Bible, the Torah, the Quran (and probably other religious texts), it’s all negative.  Don’t be proud, be humble.  Reading this, one could easily interpret that recognizing your own achievement – or being recognized for it – was a terrible thing. Doesn’t that break down some of the joy of achievement?   I certainly don’t strive for achievement only for recognition – I enjoy the learning, the journey, the opportunities, and the results which may benefit others or myself.   But yes, I also enjoy the recognition. In my experience and observation, confidence in yourself and your achievements is an area where we (as a North American society, anyways) haven’t really excelled in the past hundred years or so.   Yes, there are exceptions.   But I feel like we’ve been so overshadowed by the negativity of being proud that most of us never gave ourselves permission to be proud of anything.   Proud of othe...
Read more

Not Long Enough

Image
  In early November of 2002, I brought two tiny kittens to our home.   It all started with my daughter, who returned from school one day with the announcement that “Sam’s cat has kittens!   Can we have one?”  Dusty chose me as her person early on, and started our journey of eighteen years by grooming my face three times each morning.   It was so important to her that I had to let her do it, but let me tell you, if you’ve never felt a cat tongue on your eyelids, it’s not something I’d recommend.   She was full of interesting antics, from clawing a hole in a window screen to lead her brother outside to carrying Hershey’s kisses by their tags so they looked like little bells hanging from her teeth.   Salmon, tuna, and chicken were among her favourite treats, and in recent years she’d sit and cry at your feet if you dared to have any of these in the kitchen without sharing them with her.  Dusty’s mission in life was clear – she needed to look af...
Read more