I have come to accept that in my brain there lives a sticky word web.
Sometimes, I read a word or hear a sentence, and without warning it enters my head where it sits quietly, slowly festering, niggling away persistently, demanding attention. It will not leave me alone until I’ve examined it, tearing it to pieces and often killing it in the process.
For example, I was pounding out words, trying to craft a story the other day when I stopped to wonder, ‘Am I becoming a better writer?’ That was all it took. That verb, ‘becoming’ got stuck in my word-web, and like an earwig it persisted in tunneling into my brain.
BE-coming. Be-COMING. Becoming? A broken word-record. Suddenly my brain asked, ‘Who decided these two verbs belong together?’ Be-coming? This ailment of mine, this sticky brain word web will not let go of its victim until it is satisfied.
I set to work with my mental scalpel. Becoming = be+coming. It’s a simple compound word, usually used as a verb to express some truth, ‘I am becoming older’ for example. Hard to accept for sure. Even as an adjective, becoming can be difficult to embrace, 'Do I look less becoming as a result?' Certainly an explanation is in order.
‘Be’ defines pure existence.
Buddhists claim it as the ultimate answer. Simply, ‘be.’
Shakespeare used it as a question, ‘To be..or not to be...’
Coming? The second verb is the present participle form of ‘to come.’ This gerund, this ‘ing’ form means ‘soon,’ as in, 'Coming mother!’ Any child will tell you that there is no hurry here. In their world and mine as well, it will happen, I'm coming, but not quite yet.
So? I side with Shakespeare, ‘Becoming or not becoming? That is a question. Can it ‘be,’ that is to say ‘exist now’, and still be ‘coming,’ as in ‘not quite yet?’ Can we ‘exist soon’? Are we in the process of, ‘almost now?’ Can these two states, now and later, coexist? We are asked to accept that it is both? How is that possible?
Perhaps the Beatles got it right,’let it be.’ After considerable (and you may say confusing) thought, I chose to accept common usage and embrace ‘becoming’ as a viable state. Unsticking the verb from my word web however, I am still stuck with the question, ‘Am I becoming a better writer?’ I don’t know the answer to that, but I'm certainly becoming more concise in vetting my words.
I can’t expect you to understand this mental malady of mine which causes me to question, to dissect, to attempt an explanation for everyday words. Heck I don’t understand it either. I am however becoming more tolerant of its usefulness, and hope you are saying the same.
Be well, and do tell………………………………………………………..Mike@MikePerry.biz