They Say...

Clichés. The world is full of them and I dislike them for more than just the fact they are overused (and yet have a massively irritating way of creeping into my writing and my mind). I also dislike them because, frankly, they’re not always true. In fact… the people who wander around my thoughts during the day prove many of them entirely inaccurate:

Blood is Thicker than Water

They say blood is thicker than water… in some way trying to devalue ties not born of DNA. But when I look at him and her, when I watch her cuddle him to sleep, listen to her read him stories, listen to him recall his day to her as they sit gazing out of the window, I know that biology is the smallest part of the equation of parental love.

Blood may be thicker than water – but it is not thicker than love. Blood stains, but it doesn’t stick around as long as an unconditional and eternal love for someone.

DNA won’t keep him warm at night. Genes won’t keep him feeling safe. Love will do that.

All’s Fair in Love and War

They say that all is fair in love and war. Tell that to the orphan weeping over the bloodied corpse of his Father – a man murdered by weapons far bigger than he, fired for reasons far bigger than he can comprehend. A war was waged against the men in power but that wipes out the men on the street.

They say that all is fair in love and war. Tell that to those who lost a love, whose heart never recovered and who were never quite able to fully give their heart to another.

 

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So perhaps, then, they haven’t read hers. Because the prettiest pictures are penned using just 26 different letters and raw emotion. They choose her, the words. She doesn’t necessarily choose them. I know that. I see that. I feel that. Yet those pictures penned of vowels and consonants, free of paint, free of oils, free of pastels, chalks and pencil lines, they create some of the finest art you will ever see.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So perhaps then, they haven’t read hers.

All’s Well that Ends Well

They say that all’s well that ends well. But just because loose ends were tied up doesn’t mean the knots were ever removed from the middle. Picking up the smashed pieces doesn’t put them back together again.

A happy ending is indeed desirable. But sometimes so much has been damaged during the event that all you can do is look forward… clean up what you can and leave what was to weather away.

Lightening Never Strikes Twice in the Same Place

It does. Or sometimes three times. Or sometimes even four times.

All you can do is douse the flames, repaint and carry on.