Collection: Who Once Knew Better Words

Format: Aphorism
Length: 500 Words | 2 Min
Author: Melissa Nadia Viviana
Date: February 9, 2024

Tags: Creativity, Writing, Mirroring

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Who Once Knew Better Words is a reader-supported publication by Melissa Nadia Viviana: Author, Activist, Existentialist, & Philosopher.

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I’ll never understand why people focus on small things that strangers say—and try to correct them.

That’s like standing in a field of wildflowers and finding one small granule of pollen—and trying to demand it change.

My entire being is different than yours.

I exist in a different set of emotions, with different thoughts and rationale. My experiences and perspective are different.

The way that I make sense of life and the universe—is different.

When you look at me—I want you to see me—not a mirror.

I’m not your self-reflection.

When I express my emotions, they should sound like my emotions.

When I use my internal logic, they will come from axioms I’ve deemed logical.

I’m not supposed to be speaking your mind.

When I make decisions, they will be mine to make.

Correcting small things I say or do doesn’t make sense.

I’m the whole fucking wildflower field.

And you’re focusing on one granule of my pollen—Not realizing that ALL of me is beyond your correction. Because ALL of me is an expression of me.

Even if my words are a mistake—my mistakes are mine to make.

It’s true that I’m a writer and an artist—and some people think of us as having a responsibility to hold up a mirror to humanity.

But I’m not here to hold within me all of the many opinions in the universe. Or all of the many experiences that humans are able to have.

My mind must be a reflection of its truest self.

Not a train station or an airport, with transitory representations of everybody around me.

This is a principle of sanity, of subjectivity, of authenticity.

Being an artist doesn’t mean representing the billions of people that exist out there.

It means, representing yourself well enough—with enough clarity—that someone, somewhere, will see themselves in you.

Not because you’re describing them. But because you’re describing yourself with honesty.

And our honest humanity connects us with one another.

If I express something and just a few people say: “That's how I feel!” … I’ve done my job.

If 20 more people say, that's NOT how I feel—I've still done my job.

A single artist or writer isn’t meant to express everyone's truth. It’s our job to find a couple of truths for a couple of people.

To be honest about something that exists. Sometimes just one thing that exists.

To express a single truth with clarity—so that those who share it can see their own ideas tangibly in front of them.

And if more people want to see their truths articulated… then what we’re going to need is plenty more artists & writers to share their truths.