"because is not an answer"

I heard someone say, "that's not a word" the other day.

Well, if you understood the meaning then yes, in fact, it is a word. We too often play by the rules just because they are the rules. If in an english sentence I said "ra-jil" to someone and that person didn't know Arabic then they would have no clue that I had just said "man." The fact that they didn't understand what I said does not change the fact that رجل (ra-jil) is a word, but when someone says something like "funnest" there are people who protest with, "that's not a word." Words are nothing more than a combination of sounds that allow us to understand life, each other, and the world around us and then to communicate those understandings. Just because others say something is not a word does not mean it's not, especially when your not-a-word is able to communicate your meaning. Sidenote: my older adult coworker just said "okay, cool beans" on the phone in a professional conversation. My first thought was, "cool beans? what are you, Lizzie Mcguire?" but then I realized how that phrase, "cool beans" perfectly supports my point that words are not words because they are words but because they relay a meaning.

Back to what I was originally saying though, too often we play by the rules. But not just the rules, other people's rules. Monday night Stephen and I were hanging out talking once again and we were talking at one point about not doing something because someone else doesn't want you to. He's a very considerate, selfless, you-first kind of guy. I'm not that way. Well, not in the way he is. I'll give you all I have and all I can except when it comes to me and my life. My parents have always been very supportive of me not doing what they want me to. They'll advise me, tell me what they do and do not approve of, and then almost in a way expect me not to listen. The only thing that has ever offended my parents, my father, was my tattoo, because he outright told me that he would take it as a sign of disrespect.

People often don't do what they want because others want to tell them how they should live and what they should do. I understand respect but respect does not mean I have to live my life according to the way you want me to live it. If my decisions about what to do with my life will hurt you then you've invested and projected way too much of yourself onto me. Instead of being people who care because we know the other person well and know that there is potential for them to hurt if things don't go as planned, we are people who want to be offended and feel attacked when someone we care about doesn't act according to our desires. My parents caution me because they put my physical well being and my child-like romantic idealistic attitude towards life above everything else. They would do anything to protect both of those things and for that I am grateful beyond words.

It's also because of my parents that I've never lost my childhood response of "because is not an answer." Because is not an answer and rules that are based on others' say-so is not a rule in my book. John Stuart Mill wrote the book On Liberty, which is a detailed reasoning for freedom of speech (and action) so long that others are not physically harmed, despite whether or not their "sympathies" are hurt. I'm not saying that we shouldn't take into account the sympathies of others but we should not impose our sympathies/rules/desires/beliefs on others and then take offense when others reject them; nor should we allow the sympathies of others to silence our personal sovereignty. Silence, above all else, silences progression. At one time the languages and words and grammar used today didn't exist but we use and accept them as if they are concrete and God-given. As Mill points out in his book, much of what once was accepted in history no longer is because someone spoke. Just because we accept something does not mean it's right and just because we don't accept it does not mean it's wrong. It means we've made a choice. I choose to make my choices for me when my choices directly involve me. It pains me to see others not do that. The possibilities of the future are endless if we accept to accept our own acceptances. It is your freedom not to though and that, I accept.