Skip to main content

Dots, Lines, Triangles, Squares

dotsOver the course of any given day, I have a profuse amount of conversations, debates, arguments and moments of pure connective bliss. They take up the majority of my day – and, they mostly occur within the confines of my own mind. Because, of course, as a writer, creator, artist – I appear to spend a lot of time as a dot. Solo, alone, unconnected…hashing it out.

But, as a copywriter, businesswoman and member of the human race – my dot ends up being connected to different people in a variety of ways every single day. When my dot hooks up to one other person, we become a line. When it hooks up to two people, we become a triangle. When it hooks up to three people we become a square…and on and on. And the bigger they get, the more lines, triangles and squares get created within each of the shapes.

(This is very complicated…has your head exploded yet?)

Thinking about this post in ‘pre-flight’ (read: on my rollerblades), my instinct was that the greater number of people (and the bigger the shape), the more complex everything would become. But, now I’m undecided…

When it’s just you, standing on your dot – the focus is very internal. And the brain (mine at least), is quite loud, complex, churney – like a Vitamix. Conversely, as you add more people to your communications, this internal conversation quiets, or maybe just gets redirected, as the external chatter heats up and demands your attention.

There is a heightened complexity that comes with larger shapes. Suddenly, you don’t have control (or the shelter of your skull) as the other dots in your line, triangle and square say things to you and (gasp!) each other (with or without you). As other needs, that may not match yours, come into play.

The impulse is to pull back inside when things get uncomfortable. But, the real question is, can you really ever escape the impact of others? Even when you disconnect and just ‘be the dot’? Maybe the lines that connect you become faded and dashed, but do they actually go away?

Image credit: Darwin Bell

Join the discussion 3 Comments

  • Jason says:

    I have a friend that I have known for over 10 years. When we get together and do things, she always picks up on the (rather limited) things I do; cooking the perfect sunny-side egg (by using steam instead of grease), consistently steeping the perfect pot of tea, folding a sheet to a crisp crease time after time. The point being that I have carefully considered how each of these tasks might be performed most efficiently, without interruption or consultation. She understands, as I do, that I have a limited capacity to accept disruption in my thought patterns. Multitasking is a myth, and I am a student of the Tao. I have been mistakenly categorized as aloof or arrogant, when actually I am concentrating on the task at hand. I do not collaborate very well on any level. I do believe that I have become most proficient at isolation. Solitude is my salvation, and on an island I am saved.
    Dramatic, huh?

  • Julie Roads says:

    Yes. Dramatic – but I love that about you. This also gives me a beautiful view of a way of living that I simply don’t inhabit. Thank you so much for sharing…

  • I’m working from home now days, spending some hours in writing and some “on the job”.. aside from some issues w/structure and discipline, I’m having a hard time adjusting to being just the dot. This is a great post and one that I will add to the other thoughts roiling around.

Leave a Reply to delicate flower Cancel Reply